Bomb III: Retribution
by Pen to Paper Writer
Summary: Rick Rodgers has it all. A loving wife, a very down to earth daughter, and a son he cherished and he would die for all of them if need be. On the other side of the coin, bad people are out there and they seek revenge. What will happen to his perfect little world? The bubble will burst when he least expects it?
1. Chapter 1

**_Prologue..._**

Belfast, Ireland.  
Monday, March 9th, 2009.

"Colin! Come inside right this minute."

Ten-year-old Colin wished his mother would let him stay and play with his friends just a little while longer. She never understood what it was like to be a boy growing up in Belfast and how fast he could lose those friends in the blink of an eye. He had so many friends that he had not seen in like forever, but reluctantly he told them that he had to go home.

Home. Now that was an understatement. He really couldn't blame his mother because she was doing everything that she could do to provide the best possible environment for him. It's his absent father that he really can't forgive. Colin had overheard his mother one afternoon talking to one of her best friends about how he was conceived. He listened with rapt attention trying to put together a timeline so he could look into it later. When his mother told her friend how all she had wanted was a quick fuck, he almost threw up. She went on to tell her friend that his father had escaped from a mental health hospital and was headed to the United States to take care of some unfinished business. He was never to be heard from again. She was young and naïve and all she could think about was how good he would feel inside her. He had a very large package and she hoped he knew how to use it. They talked about him as if he was only someone to pleasure her and not the fact that he was his father. It was then he found out why.

It seems his father was rumored to be involved with the IRA. He was known to build explosive devices for them. And he had foolishly gone after the man who cost him everything in his life. He never knew that he had a son.

Colin is lucky that his mother did not believe in abortion because if she did, he would have never been born. But his pending arrival did strain things between her parents and his mother. Once they found out she was pregnant and the father was nowhere in the picture she was spurned. She gave birth to him with only a doctor and a nurse present in the delivery room her parents wanted nothing to do with a bastard child. When the time came for her to be discharged the hospital had fought for her on her behalf and was able to set up halfway house until she was able to get on her feet.

He was able to find out what happened to his father, but being as young as he was his research materials were very limited. He needs to wait until he was a little older to figure out what exactly happened to his father.

His mother had found work in various places. They would not starve and they had a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs and that was about it. He will do whatever it takes to help his mom out. He worked after school and on the weekends at the local hardware store making deliveries on his bike.

_**10 years have gone by…**_

Ten years have given him the tools to do exactly what he couldn't do ten years earlier. He now has enough information to know that his father had been accused unfairly and was railroaded into agreeing to a deal to keep him from being put to death. The deal was that he was to be incarnated for the rest of his natural life. But he had other plans. It took his father some time but he did escape from where he was. The news he read about his death was disturbing, to say the least. His plan would have come to fruition if it weren't for the man who killed him. Richard Rodgers. There would be retribution and his life as he knew it would be over.

Knowing where to look now he sets his sights on the shores of the United States. New York City to be exact. He'll do exactly what his father did twenty-one years earlier only this time he will succeed where his father had failed….

**This is my entry for CastleFicPromoter's Castle Ficathon Winter 2019. It is half written and might be slow to update after I exhaust the written chapters because I have three working stories out there. Sit back and enjoy it!**


	2. Chapter 2

He's tired and rightfully so. He has been doing this job for over thirty-five years. And he can tell that he is becoming obsolete in his chosen profession and the funny thing about this is that he knows it. His wife keeps telling him that the older he gets the wiser he becomes. It's funny but he doesn't feel any wiser. He does have trouble keeping up with technology. In recent years there has been a call for training sessions to determine if an explosive is new or old. It's just that most of the newest plastic explosives that are being used today are for the most part undetectable.

* * *

Smitty had his brother remodel the loft after the printer bomb detonated and leveled just about everything. He needed to return about four years later to do it again. But this time it was not because of an explosive device. Well, maybe it could be classified as just that…

* * *

_**Flashback to six years ago…  
**_

* * *

"Don't tell me to calm down Rick! Look at me! Look at how big I am!"

He did look and that might have been the worst thing he could have done. The second he looked back up from her larger than normal belly he saw her eyes narrow at him and not in a loving way. He needed to come up with a lifesaving romantic sentiment like now or else he was toast.

"You are so beaut…"

"Save it, Rodgers. Don't go there."

Kate knew that he was going to say that she was beautiful. But the trouble with that was that she didn't feel beautiful. She was in her last trimester with her two babies. Both were girls and she felt like she was as big as a house.

"Don't tell me that I am beautiful because, well, look at me!" Kate swept her arm down towards her baby bump becoming upset because she could not complete the motion because her arm stopped at the middle of her baby bump.

"But babe you are beautiful. You are carrying our daughters. What could be more beautiful than that?"

And that was all it took. Kate broke down and started to cry. She loved this man and wonders how she ever got so lucky to have him in her life. Damn hormones.

"Thanks, babe."

Rick walks over to the couch she is sitting on, sits next to her and pulls her in for a comforting hug. She offers him no resistance.

"I think that we need some time to ourselves just you and me. Since you are on maternity leave now and I have this weekend off, how about we getaway to the Jersey shore? I'm sure that we can find a place on such short notice." Rick whispered in her ear.

Before Kate could answer him two things happened. The first thing was all the construction noise that was coming out of the second-floor bedroom had stopped abruptly. Then there was an argument as to what was to happen next being shouted out between the men working in there. The second thing that happened is that there was a knock on the door.

"Babe, you go see what the problem is up there and I'll get the front door."

Rick helped her up off the couch and he had to stifle a laugh as she waddled towards the front door. She checked the peephole and placed her hand over her mouth to stop from screaming out. Then she pulled the door open and held out her arms widely.

"Hi, mom!"

"Hi, baby!"

The second the words were out of her mouth her daughter was in her arms. To anyone who looked from behind them what they were doing looked normal. But if you were to look at them from a sideways point of view, they were barely touching each other. This would be because her daughter is just as pregnant as she is. Their baby bumps were touching and they were both happy. They break from their embrace and take each other in.

"Is it me or are you just a little bigger today?"

"Mom stop! You are just jealous because I am past my due date. I can't even get through my bedroom doorway at home. My nights have been spent on the pull out sofa in the living room."

"Did Kyle agree with that?" Kate let out a little snicker and that was when Alexis saw the twinkle in her eye.

"Mom, come on! I'm not going to make it. I'm already past my due date by three days." She said ignoring her mother's comment about her husband.

"Now that's a good thing, Alexis. Your babies have a better chance of making it into this world with no issues instead of going straight into the NICU after they are born."

Alexis just looked at her mom and understood exactly what she was saying. She had a couple of friends who had delivered early and their children were preemies in the NICU for a while before they were allowed to leave the hospital. With her mother here now she felt more at ease. She caressed her bump and her mother does the same. Rick watches as they mimic each other's movements as he stands halfway down the stairs. He can no longer watch them because his son has caught sight of his sister and wants to be put down so he can go see her. Before he can put him down Alex squirms out if his arms drop to the staircase and run down the rest of the steps.

"Lexi!" Alex shouted.

"Inside voice," Rick called out to him as he finished descending the stairs.

"Hi, Alex," Alexis said as he wrapped his small arms around her midsection.

"Hi, Lexi. How are the babies?" Her brother asked as he patted her tummy.

"They are just fine. But I want to hold them so badly but they are late."

"Late?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I can't hold them because they aren't born yet. They were supposed to be here on Tuesday and that day came and went."

"Oh. Are you mad at them for being late?" Alex wondered.

"No Alex it's not like that. They will come when they are good and ready." She said and sighs heavily.

Rick enters the kitchen and pulls Alexis into a hug. She welcomes the hug and rests her head in the crook of his neck. She just wishes that her babies were here.

"Hey Peanut, let's get some lunch okay?" Kate says to her son.

"Sure mommy, what are we going to have?"

"How about tomato soup and a tuna fish sandwich?" Kate suggested.

Alex stood there thinking about his lunch choice and after ten seconds he nodded his head.

Alexis breaks from her father's hug and followed her mother into the kitchen. They got lunch ready for all the people in the loft. The three workers upstairs, Rick, Alex, her daughter and herself. She has the meal done in no time and the workers who had come downstairs when they were called, were very thankful for being fed.

Kate watches as her daughter and son interact with each other. She is brought back to a memory from a short time ago….

* * *

_Kate had been hoping that they were going to move their relationship further along because she knew that her daughter loved Kyle. She just needed to come out of her shell just a little more and commit to him emotionally and physically. Kate knew that Kyle had come to her husband to ask for their daughter's hand in marriage. Rick sat at his desk going over the BDU's budget for that year and stopped working to see Kyle standing at his office doorway._

_"Kyle, is there something I can do for you?" Rick asked him without looking up._

_Kyle just stood there not knowing what to do next. He was lost because her dad was a very intimidating man and he liked his head right where it was…attached to his body._

_"Um… ah… Mr. Rodgers… I ah… came here to…."_

_"Kyle stop standing in my doorway stuttering, come into my office and sit down. Then we can talk."_

_He did as he was asked but he was nervous. So nervous about what he wanted to ask he completely forgot why he was there. Then her father started to talk._

_"So Kyle, what can I do for you?"_

_"Um, Mr. Rodgers ah um…."_

_"Yes, Kyle I think we already established that I am Mr. Rodgers. Can we speed this along, please? I do have work to do."_

_Kyle just stared at him and doing this got him to think about his job. Then he was back on track._

_"Mr. Rodgers, as you know I have recently been promoted to district manager for Best Buy. When I took the promotion, I was given a large increase in pay. I believe that now I would not have a problem supporting Alexis and myself. And according to my superiors if I am good at what I do in the next six months I will be promoted to regional manager. That will bring in a little more money. I have been looking for places to live and I believe I have found something that we will both love. I have also saved enough for a very modest but beautiful engagement ring. So, what I'm asking you Mr. Rogers is will you give me your blessing to marry your daughter?"_

_"Kyle, do you love my daughter?"_

_"I do."_

_"Will you treat her with respect, kindness and as an equal in your marriage?"_

_"I will."_

_"Well, Kyle I guess I approve. But I'm going to need something in the form of a dowry."_

_"A dowry?" Kyle responded._

_"Yes, Kyle a dowry. A dowry is cash, jewelry, furniture, or whatever the father of the bride decides upon. And what I want from you in the form of a dowry is a cow, four chickens, and two pigs."_

_Kyle just sat there looking at Rick with his mouth hanging open. He had never known what a dowry was and he doesn't know if his future father in law is pulling his leg or not. Just as he's about to say something, he is interrupted by two female voices shouting at Rick._

_"DAD! RICK!" Both Kate and Alexis were standing in his doorway giving him very dirty looks. Apparently, they had been eavesdropping during the whole can I marry your daughter request that Kyle was asking Rick._

_"What? I like chickens and cows and pigs."_

_"Dad get serious. Kyle is not going to give you anything you just asked for. Isn't it enough that he came to you asking for my hand? He could have taken me away to elope. Tell me would you have liked that? Making a big joke of this is not funny."_

_At least Rick had the decency to look and his shoes in shame. He was just having a little fun with Kyle; it was his right to do so because he was losing his baby bird to a man he knew she loved. She had grown up way too quickly and, in a way, he wanted to stop it._

_"Kyle I give you my blessing."_

* * *

Alexis was busy planning her wedding while her boyfriend was at work when she had an excellent idea. She needed to talk to her mother to see if she would let her do what she wanted to but she was keeping something from them and she really felt bad for doing so. Maybe if she had the courage, she'd tell them, well her mom anyway.

She and Kyle are in love and he asked her to marry him. Kyle and Alexis had wanted to celebrate their new found love by exploring what they mean to each other. One thing led to another and Alexis wanted him to make love to her no matter what the cost. Kyle thought that they could do whatever they wanted to do in the lovemaking department and be able to dodge a bullet. He had used condoms but they were older ones from when he and Alexis first started dating. Here within lies the problem. The condoms in question were past their expiration date. Kyle couldn't believe it when Alexis was waiting for him at his apartment with a home pregnancy test that she had already taken. It was positive.

They were at her parent's home that night trying to tell them gracefully that Alexis was going to be a mother. It didn't go that well. But they understood. And plans were moved up for the wedding. They were married within two months.

"Mom it'll be great! Alex can walk down the aisle with the rings on the pillow. He could be our ring bearer." Alexis said excitedly.

"Are you sure you want him to do this baby?"

"Yeah, mom I am. He is a part of this family and I want to include him."

"Even though he is young I think that he'd be happy that you would include him."

"He is my brother why wouldn't I?"

Kate had no answer to that question.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Alexis is concerned now that her mom answered her like that.

"Mom is everything okay? Did I overstep?"

"No sweetie, I just have a lot on my mind. I feel like something is looming over our heads and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"Like what?"

"I'm not that sure baby. To me, it feels like there is something that will tear us apart and it will be final."

"Mom, are you thinking that dad is in danger?"

"Yes, I am."


	3. Chapter 3

There are many ways you can frame someone and have them start believing that what you are doing is enough for them to believe that it's true. It's even better if they can't prove that while you are framing them.

The ruse was a simple one and worked with very little to back it up. It was all depending on hearsay. But with the feminine way of thinking once an idea or thought was tossed out there, it took root rather quickly and spread like wildfire. This is how he would start the first phase of taking down his nemesis.

* * *

Colin had made sure that his trail was covered. His Irish passport was issued under an alias. He (for traveling purposes) was known as David Papp. He was a consultant for an internet startup that was looking to expand to the United States. The security teams at the airport at Belfast never gave him or his passport a second look. He boarded the Airbus A380 for the one-hour flight to London. From there he was going to be waiting for his next flight from Heathrow to Philadelphia on a 747for about three hours. From there he would take a bus to New York. Aer Lingus does not fly directly into New York from Belfast and the bus trip was the least of his worries. He would get over it.

* * *

If it's one thing that he hated most it was entering the United States or any other country. Anyone could be hiding something from the customs agents and they would look the other way if the right amount of cash was flashed in their direction. It's sad but that's the way it works. He walks up with his passport from Ireland of course and offers it to the Homeland Security agent behind the booth. Tucked away between the pages the passport is ten one-hundred-dollar bills. The custom agent looks up after he sees the cash and gives him a quick once over. The surveillance camera that is behind the custom agent is trained on the people presenting their passports, not at the said agent. It's not looking directly at the agent's movements. The customs agent who looks over Colin/Mr. Papp is named Peter Gundersen. Peter has no idea why Colin/Mr. Papp wants to enter the country nor does he care. He slips to $1000 into his pocket and stamps the passport approved. Colin takes back his passport, a little lighter, and turns to move towards the exit.

Having never been in this country he decides to use mass transportation to get where he needs to be. There are buses that run to NYC almost hourly so he hops on one of those. Manhattan is too expensive to stay in so he had settled on Brooklyn. It's closest to where his prey is and he can be in Manhattan in less than twenty minutes if he needs to be.

He finds a cheap but decent one-room apartment in the Bowery. From the rooftops, he can see Manhattan and that's just fine with him. He empties his suitcase into the drawers that are furnished with the apartment. The bathroom is in dire need of a good cleaning and the kitchen has a couple of roaches running around but that's nothing new from where he used to live in Ireland he'll survive.

He has his week pretty much booked up. He needs plans for something that's going to be pretty spectacular in order to take out his father's killer. He knows that his oldest daughter is still alive and only because of the articles he had read in the Daily News and the New York Post. Alexis. That was her name and if he does his research correctly, she along with her bastard father and his wife will soon be meeting their end.

But now tonight is for a good night's sleep so he can get a fresh start in the morning. His first stop will be the house that they live in, in SoHo. In his prayers, he says goodnight to his father and he remembers his mother hoping that she is still safe. He falls asleep thinking about the ways he will take out his adversary. He just hopes he can live up to his father's expectations.

* * *

He's up bright and early the next day and with what he has to cook with he can make a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and hash browns. He has a cheap Mr. Coffee coffee maker that is probably older than he is but it works fine and since he takes his coffee black with two sugars there's no need for milk.

He was fortunate enough to get copies of the NYPD reports from his father's attempted removal of the man who put him in the insane asylum so long ago. He could tell that there was a flaw in his father's planning. It was a good plan but his father never considered all the variables. His father's first mistake was to never assume that he could defeat Richard Rodgers. The second mistake was that bitch cop, Katherine Beckett. Back then she was just an up and coming detective. But the second she married his father's killer she had sealed her fate along with his. She would die a slow and painful death. He, of course, would make sure Rodgers watched as he tortured her and he would be able to do nothing to save her. He had a plan formulating in his head but he needed to do some research in order to carry it out. And for that, he needed to go to a couple of not so public sources.

He finished his breakfast and downed the rest of his coffee. Checking the time on his watch he could go to one of the three stops he needs to go to since they were opening in a half hour. The New York City public library has a wealth of information and that will be his first stop. By the time he finishes collecting all the information he needs to from the library, it'll just be about time to see the person next on his list. He locks up his apartment and heads to the subway stop not far from his apartment. The subway ride takes less than thirty minutes and he is now sitting on the steps in front of the library waiting for it to open.

* * *

He spent over four hours in the library researching what he had to research. He was mostly interested in the same thing his father was but with a twist. The pressure plates he was going to use are now almost undetectable. They don't make any sound when you step on them but the person stepping on them will know it because the activation of the plates trigger travels through the unsuspecting victim's body and no other sound could be heard. Then he had to make up some fashionable bomb wear. He decided to make up to separate bomb vests for the two women in Richard Rodger's life. They would be tamper-proof and no matter what Rick would come up with he would never be able to disarm them. It would play out a little bit like the scenario with his first wife and daughter. But he had an ace up his sleeve, he knew that no one would survive his little game. And that would be his greatest failure. The fact that he would never disarm either vest and deal with the pain of losing the women he loved. He would watch them both die. He had a better plan then his father did. His father gave him the option to disarm one vest while he was watching from the post office. This wouldn't happen this time because Richard Rodgers would be watching on a closed-circuit television screen as his wife and daughter passed into the hereafter.

* * *

His next stop is SoHo. According to tax records, Richard Rodgers has a loft apartment on Broome street. He will do some recon to get their schedules down and that is going to take up a lot of his time.

He prints out all of his research and is amazed to find that he would spend over sixteen dollars on the copies he needed to make. America, they get you either way. He also had to pay for three 11x17 color copies for the architectural layout of the Rodgers loft. He placed all of his copies into his messenger bag and gets ready to leave.

The D train station at 42nd street is a short walk. After he descends the stairs he stands on the platform and waits for the next train. He watches the people around him and thinks to himself how unsuspecting and trusting these people really are. Did they not learn anything from 9-11? There are surveillance cameras on the platform but they are easily avoidable. He could take out most of the people on this platform and he'd never be caught. He is drawn from his thoughts as he senses the train pulling up. He hops on and as the doors close, he sees something that catches his eye. The NYPD is harassing a homeless man doing nothing but sitting on the platform holding out a cup to anyone who would throw some change into his cup. He is not demanding that passerby's put change into his cup, but the cops still are hassling him. If they could utilize their manpower for actually fighting or preventing crime he would be surprised and the city would be better off. The train pulls out of the station and before he knows it, he is getting off at Grand Street four stops later. He exits the train and climbs the stairs out on the subway system and walks north just over 200 yards and looks up at the loft Richard Rodgers owns. He settles himself into the alcove of an apartment and just watches.


	4. Chapter 4

His surveillance yielded him more information than he would ever get by reading about it in any publication. He has the layout of where Richard Rodgers lives and he has some of their routines down but he'll need more time to finish getting their habits down.

He concentrates on the bastard first. He knows that Rodgers leaves his loft between seven fifteen and seven twenty on a normal workday. He drives to work in his city-issued 2018 Chevrolet 2500 Silverado. Along the way, he stops off for a venti café mocha at Starbucks with room left for milk. From start to finish his whole drive takes him about 35 minutes with stopping for coffee. When he arrives at BDU headquarters, he notices that the building they are in is pretty much newer than any other surrounding building in the area. He had done some research as to why they were here now and it's because Rogers had asked for the funds for them to move from the Bronx to Manhattan in the last budget. He knows why they are here in Manhattan and it's because of that bitch of a wife he's married to. He knows she works in lower Manhattan and his shop is not far from where she works. He watches as he gets his equipment out of the back of the truck and walks into his office.

"Morning Baez." Rick greets Herman as he drops his gear right in front of his office.

"Morning boss," Herman says as he stuffs his mouth with a donut.

"You know Herman, you better think about laying off those donuts because one day you might not fit into your bunker pants to respond to a call."

"Come on boss these are the best kind of donuts. Krispy Kreme fresh out of the oven!"

"No thanks, I'm trying to watch my boyish figure. But by all means, don't let me stop you knock yourself out."

Rick made it to his office in sat down behind his desk. He was just going to start working on the budget for the coming year when lieutenant Kang knocked on his door.

"Loto? What's going on?"

"Rick, just need to know if it's okay for me to get next week off? I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I am going to ask Jillian to marry me. But we're going to do it all in one shot if you get my drift."

"Wait a second you're telling me that you're going to propose on some beautiful white sandy island and marry her that day or a couple of days after you ask her?"

Loto just smiled at Rick. He thought that this was unheard of but if Rick mentioned it, it couldn't be that bad. People did it all the time.

"Yeah, basically that's the plan. We're going to fly down to Costa Rica on Friday and then from there we're going to have a very romantic night with a dinner and of course will see the show while we eat but after we get done with the show we're going to take a very slow walk on the beach and that's when I'm going to ask her.'

"Well good luck to you Loto. I wish you all the luck and I'm sure that we can cover your absence for the next week. Smitty or Baez will take up the slack don't you worry about that."

Just then Smitty walked by Ricks's office in a hurry. Rick knew why he was walking by his office in a hurry because he didn't want to get caught by him. His brother had told him what happened in Ricks loft the other day. He was avoiding him like typhoid Mary.

"Just a second Loto…" "Smitty maybe you can spare a second or two I need to talk to you." Smitty stopped dead in his tracks because if he moved forward one more step Rick would probably come out of the office chasing him. So he turned around faced it like a man.

"Loto, is it alright if I tell Kate about your plan?"

"Yes, Rick. You can tell her she's half the reason I'm doing this. It's okay to tell her."

"Loto do me a favor and check out the equipment on the fast attack truck. I meant to do it last week but it slipped my mind."

"No problem Rick shouldn't take longer than a half-hour I'll give you the results when I'm done."

"Thanks, Loto. Now, Smitty, you're my next problem I have to deal with. I have mentioned to you many times that your brother is very good at what he does. And I usually don't have a problem with when he makes a mess around the loft but he takes care of it. But what happened this Saturday while I was trying to get this year's budget sorted out really got me to thinking why your brother was there in the first place remodeling my house. I don't know if he's got an issue with the people he hires or he just rubs everybody the wrong way but whatever it is he needs to figure out how to do the job he was hired to do. I really don't like taking work home with me, to begin with, but I needed to finish the budget and as of right now it still isn't done. So, while you're making your phone call to your brother explaining him to him how he can play nice with others I will be working on the budget for the next year."

"Boss, I'm sorry. I heard about what happened on Sunday when we had him over for dinner. But I will make sure that he and whoever he hires to complete the work on your new nursery will be professional at best."

Rick really couldn't stay mad at his best friend. He knew he would do his best to convince his brother not to screw around and just get the job done as quickly as possible. He just hopes he doesn't have to deal with what he had to deal with on Saturday again this weekend.

Total chaos is what Rick faces when he pulls out last year's budget report on expenditures and incoming funds. To this day there are still people who donate to the FDNY. They put a strict focus on where the funds are supposed to be allocated to. Rick and his unit get about 18% of the donations that are made to the FDNY. It's a boost in his budget and he doesn't have to adjust for the additional income by reducing his budget that he requests for the following year. Last year's donations alone replaced all of the bomb suits that they use when they need to respond to a scene and disarm a bomb. They are also fortunate to get a used 2014 Peterbilt straight job that had the capability to refill Scott air packs at the scene. When they were at bomb calls in the past and needed sustainable air, they used the FDNY's rechargeable system that they brought with them to the scene. Now they do it themselves.

He goes over the numbers from last year and only wants to increase his budget by 7.25 percent for the coming year. It's not much but with the donations that he knows will come in should make up the difference. And going to the City Council is always good at approving your budget when you ask for less money. They seem to give you what you want when you ask for less cash.

Xx

Kate was tired of being chained to her desk. She had only three more days and then she would be starting her maternity leave. But when she came back after her leave was over, she would be the new captain of the 12th precinct. She had taken the test for captain just after she found out that she was going to have the twins. She scored in the top three percent of all the candidates who took the test. She nailed the oral interview and the follow up second interview. When she was done, 1PP had placed her on a list of thirty-two people who passed the test. She was number four. She knew that Jenkins was a Staten Island cop and would never leave. Peterson loved the Bronx and would likely stay put there. But her only threat might be Ramos. He loved anything Manhattan. But she did have a hook. Her retiring captain had talked with the chief of detectives and the president of the captain's endowment association to give her just a small amount of pull to be placed at the 12th as it's new commander. Whatever they did worked because the first seven cops on the list were placed pretty much where they wanted to be.

Knowing that she could not leave the floor, Ryan and Esposito had returned with the preliminary information for the case.

It turns out that a woman was found hanging from the ceiling in her own home. There was no foul play but the lab results were not back yet. Ryan noticed that some areas of the home were ransacked. He also noticed that the victim Shelly Kim had DNA under her right-hand fingernails. Lanie would tell them what was going on with the evidence when she was finished with her. Before long, it was time to call it a day. Montgomery had dismissed all three of his detectives and wanted them back no sooner than 8 am the following morning.

Xx

Colin watches as she moves from the lobby to her car. He hails a cab to follow her to make sure she follows the route he has in his notes. She does and there are no changes. People in this country are so predictable they are almost asking to be used as a target or to be taken as a hostage. If they only knew what was waiting for them…


	5. Chapter 5

Kate, Ryan, and Espo had solved the murder and she was grateful because today was her last day at the precinct. They never expected who the person was who did it.

The woman's boyfriend worked hard and was trying to make a name for himself by starting his own business. He had been business for the last three years and had a steady customer base. Repeat work was abundant. On the day of the murder, he had a very tough day at work because one of his workers was going to be leaving him because he was being reactivated into the Army reserve and his unit was leaving at the end of the month. Having one man leave was not good. His other two employees could not fill the gap of the departing reservist and he had a very large job to finish by the end of the week. When he arrived home that night the second bit of news was delivered by his girlfriend. She was pregnant and was due in five months. That's when the shit hit the fan and he just snapped. He lunged at her and started to strangle her with his bare hands. It was only after she stopped moving that he released his grip on her throat.

He needed to find a way for the cops to believe that she killed herself. He tied a nylon rope to the rafter in their living room and placed a chair right below the rope. He stood her body on the chair and placed the noose around her neck and kicked the chair out from under her. He looked at the placement of the chair and the way her body hung from the rafter and thought that it was believable that she took her own life. He was a man who didn't want kids and they had never talked about them. She never told him until it was too late to do anything about it. That's why he was pissed at her.

He did his best to scrub away any evidence that could be left at the scene by using water and soap on her body. He did a pretty decent job eliminating his DNA and any trace evidence from the crime scene or so he thought. He packed a bag of clothes and some toiletries and left the apartment being careful not to touch anything on the way out. It wasn't until two days later when the police had shown up at his latest job site to ask him some questions about his girlfriend's murder when he started to worry.

Xx

"Mr. Tishman I need to ask you some questions about your girlfriend Dawn."

"Okay. What would you like to know?" He said as he made a disgusted face at Kate as she sat in the chair opposite him. She noticed instantly and adjusted her questioning accordingly.

"Mr. Tishman, does my being with child bother you?"

"You're where every slut should be. In the kitchen and barefoot. You already have the pregnant part covered."

"I see. Tell me, Mr. Tishman, why did you murder your girlfriend? Was it because she was pregnant without your permission?"

A snorting sound left his mouth and he shook his head.

"I did not kill my girlfriend. This is the first I am hearing about her being killed. I was at a convention for the last three days"

"Is that so? Well, I know that you're lying to me, Mr. Tishman. You see at first, we thought that your girlfriend really had taken her own life. But after the M.E. finished the autopsy on Dawn, we found telltale signs of her being strangled as the cause of death and then placed in the noose and hung from the rafter. But the icing on the cake and what will convict you is the DNA evidence under her fingernails which you missed when you cleaned off her body."

"I want a lawyer!"

"I thought as much because you are going to need one."

"LT, process him and stick him in holding."

"Yes, detective Beckett. What are the charges?

"Two counts of murder, tampering with evidence, and felony child abuse."

"Wait, what? Two counts of murder?" Tishman screamed. I only killed Dawn!"

"That's correct Mr. Tishman you did kill her. But your girlfriend was pregnant with your child. We checked. So yes, you killed two people that night. Take him to processing LT."

It was all she could do to not start crying right then and there. She made it to the lady's room before she completely broke down. It was about thirty minutes later when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw her husband.

"Rick? What are you doing here?"

"Well when my wife is hurting, I come when I'm called."

"You were called? By who?"

"Lanie called me after Espo called her. What happened?"

"My hormones are all over the place. He killed her Rick! He killed her and her baby without even thinking about it. She never had the chance to hold her baby." Kate said as she fell into her husband's arms sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's okay. Just listen to my heartbeat and take deep cleansing breaths." Rick suggested.

Within a couple of minutes, Kate was almost back to normal. Rick cleared it with her captain to take her home early because of the outcome of the case. They left the floor and on the way out Rick shielded her from Tishman getting fingerprinted by pulling her close to his side keeping her head close to his chest.

Xx

Kyle had worked hard to get where he was by climbing the Best Buy company ladder. But when he was offered the job of district manager for the entire tri-state area, he almost shits himself. He took it of course but he wasn't a fool. With this new responsibility, it actually caused him to work more hours during the day. He and Alexis had decided that she would finish up her schooling and then she would find the perfect job for herself while he took care of the bills. They had everything under control or so they thought. The twins that she was carrying would be a strain on their finances but it was not impossible to save enough to keep everything balanced. The promotion could not have come at a better time but it would still require balancing everything smartly.

Xx

Colin had his very first bomb vest just about completed. It took quite a lot of time to construct, but by the time it was done he would know that there would be many corrections for the next two that he needed to make. First would be the number of plastic explosives he would need, he would need more. This one he was just finishing was laden with just under one and a half pounds of C-4. He was going to make a statement with this vest. There was a half-pound of C4 rolled into a rope roll like a pretzel before you make it into a pretzel. This would be placed in the collar of the vest and when the vest was detonated it essentially would decapitate the person wearing it of their head. Then there was a pound of the explosive in the front panel of the vest as well as the back panel. Sure it was overkill and there would be nothing for the police to identify when it went off but oh well!

Xx

Kyle was psyched. Corporate had sent him an email to report to the Best Buy offices to be prepared for his new job and discuss his responsibilities. He would need to go to Brooklyn and see Mr. Huffman by five pm. He checked his watch and calculated how long it would take to get to Brooklyn using the subway and he just had enough time if he left in the next five minutes. Deciding to tell his wife when he got home later that night, he didn't send her a text telling her where he was going. This was going to be his surprise for her and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he told her the good news.

Xx

Colin was not stupid his father had made sure of that. His brain was his best weapon and he intended on using it to its fullest. He had everything planned out for the first part of his plan. He had sent the bogus email to the bastard's daughter's husband and this, for the most part, gave him no challenge at all. Hacking into Best Buys corporate server was childs play. He sent the email and then he watched the store in lower Manhattan. When he saw a very enthusiastic Kyle Sanfilippo exit the store he managed and head straight for the subway entrance on the corner of Worth street he knew he had him. Colin would be at the address that he knew Kyle was going to long before he arrived there. This is where he would unveil the first phase of his plan and the best part of it would be that he'd never be suspected for what was about to happen to poor Kyle. This the great thing about this country everything is either posted on social media or televised. He knew that there would be both mediums following what was about to unfold.

Xx

Alexis was starting to get worried because Kyle had not called her when he usually does. And this is what has her concerned. They have always had a way to contact each other when something was going awry during their day or one of them was going to be late getting home. The last time she heard from him was this morning when he left for work. Earlier she had talked with Kate and her father after she finished her classes for the day and when she left the loft it was close to the time he was getting ready to leave his job as the manager at the Manhattan Best Buy. She unlocked their apartment door and walked in. There was no sign of Kyle anywhere and the first thing she did was pick up the phone and call her father.

"Daddy, Kyle is not here. He should be here by now it's close to seven pm."

"Alexis listen to me he might be getting something nice for you on his way home or he could be held up at work. Just give it another fifteen minutes and if he's not there by then call me back." Rick assured her.

Her mind went into overdrive and she feared the worst. He was mugged while he was waiting for the subway, he fell onto the third rail and was electrocuted, he had to stay later than he usually stayed. But she was upset with the fact that he was not home yet. She decided to check her Facebook page and almost dropped to her knees when she did. His home page was up the second she logged in. What she saw was something that she would never have expected. Kyle was standing straight as an arrow tied to a pole in a dimly lit room. It looked to be a warehouse of some sort but what really upset her were the tears flowing uncontrollably down his face. He was gagged and blindfolded. The vest that he was wearing was loaded with what looked like explosives. She tried to get a better view of him but her screen was too compact to make out anything of value.

She called her father back and told him that she found Kyle. She was so upset that she was crying when she was talking with him and he could not understand what she was telling him. The only understandable words he heard were Facebook. He had Kate log into their account and search for Alexis. The second she did her scream was blood-curdling.


	6. Chapter 6

All Kate could do was shiver when she saw Kyle with a bomb vest strapped to his chest. She was glued to the screen trying to find something that would tell her where he might be. She studied everything from his demeanor to the material the building had been built with. She could find nothing. It was until she looked down at the bottom of the screen where she saw the note leaning up on the chair next to Kyle.

"His life is in your hands, Rodgers. You have twenty-four hours to save his life. If you don't your pumpkin will be a widow."

"Rick get in here now," Kate yelled.

Rick came into his office and noticed the look on his wife's face.

"What is it, Kate? What's wrong?" He asked.

All she could do was to point to the computer screen. When Rick looked down at the screen his blood turned to ice. Someone was calling him out and they were using his son in law to do it with.

"Kate we need to find him before Alexis sees this."

"Rick I think that it is going to be essentially impossible because she already knows. She was the one who called us."

"Damn it! What are we going to do?"

"You're going to do what you always do. You're going to find out who did this and you going to put them away very, very long time."

"You're right. And I will. I'm going to need some help on this so I'm going to call Smitty and Kang and we'll see what we can find out together."

It was then when Rick took command of the situation. He sat down at his desk and started to make calls.

Xx

Colin watches as the man he wired up with a bomb vest tries to get out of his current situation. He knows that this will be next to impossible. He has a secondary fail-safe in place that will become active if anyone or anything tampers with the vest.

He watches his laptop and he sees the website increase with viewer traffic. This has worked out far better than he thought it would. He is sure that by now the bastard who killed his father is watching and wonders what he will do in order to disable the bomb. He might have told a little white lie though. The note he left with the twenty-four-hour deadline was just a joke. He had no intention of letting Kyle live for that long. He was lucky if he had two hours left at that.

Xx

Rick got a hold of Smitty and Kang and told them to meet him down at BDU headquarters. Once they arrived, he pulled up the website and Kyle was still standing there with the vest attached to his body looking petrified. They are against the clock now because an hour has already ticked away, they still have no idea where he could be.

Rick whoever this is is very efficient in the way they built this vest. It looks like no matter what you try to do to disarm it, it will detonate. And that's not if whoever built this has as a backup built into it. If you can find Kyle and you are able to get to where he is, the man who built this vest could simply push a button and detonated from anywhere in the world. So, you're taking your life in your own hands if you decide to do this." Kang told him.

"Smitty what are you thinking?"

"Boss it's not a matter of what I'm thinking. Kyle's a dead man no matter what we do. The vest has over two pounds of what looks like to be plastic explosives. And I agree with Loto there is no way that whoever orchestrated this is will let you live through it. It seems that he has a death wish and plans to carry it out. I hate to say it Rick but your son in law won't survive this. You're going to have to find out who you pissed off in the past and deal with it."

"Guys I can't let that happen. Kyle is my daughter's life. If I don't even try, what will that look like to her if I don't do anything?"

"Rick look at the screen. There are at least two fail safes on this vest. There is a secondary power supply and look here there is an independent triggering mechanism." Loto points to the screen to show him. "My guess is that he would activate this if he is out of contact with what he sees on the feed on his screen," Loto told Rick.

"So this is a no-win situation." Rick states.

"To me what to do." Rick pleads with them.

Loto just looked at Smitty and nods.

"Rick there might be a chance but it's a risky, slim one at that," Loto tells him.

"Tell me."

"We think or rather hope that Kyle still has his phone on him. If he does and his GPS is not disabled, or the bad guy didn't destroy it we might be able to locate him. But there is a caution that should be taken here. This guy who has taken him has no doubt anticipated you coming for him and I can guarantee you that he has wired the location for everything that might be a threat to his succession in this kidnapping. He will blow that location to kingdom come where ever it might be." Smitty tells him.

"Run the trace on his phone. Time is moving fast... and in the wrong direction." Rick demands.

By the time the trace is complete a precious hour has ticked away. They can see that Kyle's phone is on Staten Island in or around 141 Industrial Loop Rd. But there is one thing they are not quite sure of. It seems that there are two locations his phone could possibly be at and they don't understand why. The second location is in a residential area of Port Richmond on the North end of the island. There's only one solution to this problem that they can think of. Rick and Smitty will take one location and Loto and Dave will take the other in the residential area.

The ride out to Staten Island seemed to take forever. Rick was getting antsy just watching Smitty drive wanting him to floor the gas pedal and get the truck to at least exceed the speed limit. But he knew that the current traffic situation prevented that. He thought about how his daughter must be feeling now and wants to put her mind at ease and return home with Kyle safe and sound. Seeing the neighborhood they are driving through he knows that they will be at the industrial complex soon. He takes in his surroundings hoping to find some sign of whoever took Kyle. When he looks over to Smitty he is doing the same thing.

"Rick I have a bad feeling about this."

"So do I. But I need to get to him before it's too late."

Xx

Colin watches as the Bomb Disposal Unit truck makes a pass around the warehouse where his soon to be victim stands tied to a support stanchion. They are cautious he'll give them that. He knows that the other BDU truck out in Port Richmond had arrived and after finding nothing to do with his victim they left and were currently heading to the warehouse complex.

The bastard gets out of his truck and cautiously walks towards the front entry door while his partner moves to the rear of the building. Colin takes one last look at the monitors in front of him and sees that Kyle has just about given up the fight to escape. This is good because his body is slack and will be plastered all over the walls of the warehouse when he flips the switch to terminate his life. He looks at the timer that's attached to the remote detonating device and enters 45 seconds into the timer. With the timer now active, he shuts down the laptop and stows it in his backpack. On the way out the door of the hotel room less than five blocks away from the warehouse, he activates the timer.

Standing outside in the parking lot facing the warehouse complex he waits. Looking at his watch he counts down the final seconds before the detonation will level the warehouse and kill Kyle in the process. He is not one to count on killing the bastard who killed his father with this event because he knows that's not how life works. He could never be so lucky. He would need to figure out another way to deal with him because he knows that this is far from over.

When his second hand on his watch hits 12 there is a loud blast and the ground underneath his feet shakes. He grins a little knowing that he has just hurt the Rodgers family in a big way.

Xx

Rick knows that there might be a way to get Kyle out of this in one piece. Well, at least he hopes there is. He has made his way into the office area of the warehouse and everything looks fine. The warehouse has been vacant for a while due to the amount of dust coating the desks he sees as he walks by them. Almost at the last office, he sees a very large picture window to his right. From his vantage point he can see Kyle tied to a support beam in the middle of the warehouse. It's then when he notices the look on his face, it's one of loss. At first, he can't understand why he is looking like this but realizes just a second too late that he knows something that Rick doesn't. The blast is instant. The ensuing fireball that engulfs the warehouse is moving at light speed. Rick is thrown back by the concussion of the blast into and through the first wall of the last office he had just passed. He comes to rest halfway through the second wall and is knocked unconscious.

Smitty had just been ready to open the back door to the warehouse when they explosion ripped through the ground floor. He was just about to open the door and his hand was on the handle when the door was blown off its hinges. His arm being so close to the door was wrapped around the door and was broken in an instant. The concussion of the blast knocked him to his feet 15 feet away from the door. It knocked him unconscious when he hit the ground.

Alexis looks on in shock as she sees the bomb vest detonate taking away from her the only one thing she truly loved most in this world. She is oblivious to the hand of her mother on her shoulder that is attempting to comfort her because at this moment right now she can't fathom how she will cope with raising his children without him there with her.

Loto and Dave heard the last from a mile away and drove like it was a stock car race to get there as quickly as possible. When they pulled up to the scene it was total chaos. The building that once stood there was now lying in pieces all around the parking lot. The damage to adjacent buildings was just as bad as the main building that took the brunt of the explosion. The crater that the vest created was about a foot and a half deep by six feet in diameter. They were small fires burning around the office areas but nothing that couldn't be put out with a fire extinguisher. Dave took care of that while Loto looked for his boss and Smitty.


	7. Chapter 7

The pain is excruciating and he hopes that he is dead because dealing with the pain he is currently feeling course through his body is something he can't deal with right now. Even though the drugs he feels in his body are making him feel more than loopy, his brain can't stop trying to figure out what went wrong at the warehouse. He reviews the event in his head and although the drugs try to stop him from putting the puzzle pieces together, he knows one fact for sure, his daughter is now a widow. This hurts him more than his current injuries could ever have. And he still can't open his eyes.

"Babe, come on wake up for me… please." He can barely make out a voice through the fog of cognizant thought. He tries to open his eyes and fails spectacularly.

"Any change mom?" Alexis asks.

"No baby. He seems to want to try and come back to us but he just can't get there."

"Not for nothing mom, but he did end up with a broken back and broke fourteen of his thirty-three vertebrae, four discs that had to be fused together, both lungs were punctured, and he lost half of his blood volume. And that has nothing to do with the burns he got."

"Well, I just want him back." Kate looks to her daughter and asks,

"How are you feeling baby?"

"Like I want to explode. The twins keep using my bladder as a speed bag. But I can't do this mom, not without Kyle."

"I know that it will be hard for you. But me and your father will fill in for him. We will get you through this." Kate promised.

"How is Smitty doing," Alexis asked.

"He was released last week after your father's second surgery. His arm is healing nicely and he should be able to go back to work in a month."

They both turn back at the sound of an anguished and gagged squawk. What they see next shatters both of them. Rick is clawing at his throat trying to remove the tube that's down his throat keeping him breathing. Both women rush to keep him from doing that. By this time his heart rate has risen to unhealthy levels and has alerted the nurse's station. An intern and two nurses have rushed into his room trying to keep him calm and explain what's going on.

"Mr. Rodgers blink if you can understand me." The first RN asked him.

Rick took a second or two but he blinked and Kate could see tears leaving the corners of his eyes.

"Good that's good. I'm going to extract the breathing tube from your throat. You will feel a lot of discomfort and it will irritate your throat for a couple of hours after I remove it." The intern told him.

Rick blinked once again telling him that he understood.

"Ladies please do me a favor and stand out in the hallway for a minute or two so I can remove his breathing tube." The intern asks them.

"Nurse Janet, can you remove the tape from Mr. Rodger's mouth and then we'll get started."

Then the nurse removes the tape and Rick just looks on expecting the worst not knowing what will happen.

"Now Mr. Rodgers this will work a lot better if you start to cough as I remove the tube. It won't be as painful and it will cause less trauma to your throat. Blink twice if you understand."

Rick does and the process starts. Within a minute he is free of the tube and the intern is checking his throat for any lacerations caused by the removal of the tube.

"How do you feel Mr. Rodgers?"

"Like I am glad to have that thing out of my airway. How long am I going to be here doc?" Rick asked.

"Well as you can see, you're still in traction and will be for the next six weeks. Then the ortho doctor will complete an in-depth assessment of your progress in a month and maybe he will start you on physical therapy."

"So what about my job? I have a unit to run and the men and women in this city depend on me, not to mention my men in the unit that I manage."

"Mr. Rodgers I'm afraid that with the damage that you sustained from the explosion and fire that followed, you won't be able to return back to work. The damage to your back was what we in the field call a career-ending injury."

"What about physical therapy? That will get me back to 100%, right?"

"Rick, can I call you that?" The intern asked. Rick just nodded.

"You are going to be going through physical therapy and soon. But this is going to be nerve-wracking on your end. You're going to feel like you can't get anywhere at all and you'll see little result from all the effort you will put forth. This is to be expected. Knowing that what you are going to go through you're going to be frustrated quickly. So yes, there's a chance that you will get back to having what a normal life but you will never be one hundred percent for your job."

Rick just looks at his wife and his daughter hoping that they will give him something to go with but what he sees when he sees the looks on their faces, he is disappointed. He doesn't want to stop working with the bomb squad because it's is his life. What would he do without his job?

"Rick maybe this is a wake-up call. Think about it and maybe deciding to retire is the best path to take. You've been with the department for over thirty-five years." Kate tells him.

"Dad, there is going to be a lot of activity in the loft in the next couple of coming weeks. Are you sure you can handle it?" Alexis added.

"Listen, I appreciate what both of you are trying to do and I don't doubt that the loft will be overrun with four infants in the very near future. But I can't give up everything I have worked so hard to achieve. I will beat this and return to work sooner than the doctors tell me I can. I just need to do this."

"Rick I understand. It was the same way with me when I took over the 12th when I became Captain."

"Dad, if staying with Smitty, Herman, and Loto makes you happy then do it. Be the best that you can." His daughter tells him.

Xx

Colin had been following his progress in rehab and to his surprise, he never thought that his bomb vest would have done that much damage to the bastard. He damn near killed him when the concussion had put him through two walls and partially burned him and he was hoping that was the case. But the son of a bitch made it through all of his surgeries and was getting back to his fighting strength.

He knew that his physical therapy was grueling and that if he was ever going to return to work, he needed to excel in his rehab exercises. And by all accounts he was doing well. It's only the second time he has checked in on his progress and he needs to know that he will actually return to his job. Because in the end he will end up paying for it with his life. But now he needs to zero in on his next victim.

Paul "Smitty" Smith was a widower and while he was an asset to the BDU in Colins eyes he had outlived his usefulness. He had read where his father had tried to take him out with a complex floor plate and about four and a half pounds of Semtex wired to it but the man seemed to have nine lives as well as Rodgers. Rodgers was able to save his friend from that situation but now there would be nothing he could do to make it in time to save his friend. He knew that is his present condition he could never be able to do what he had done six years ago. This would be a way to eliminate the BDU and maybe once and for all he'd take out the bastard in the process.

His father had tried to take out Smith at his home and he had no doubt that his father had done more than enough research into his target. But it was Rodgers who had beaten all of his father's fail-safes to save the both of them. It would not happen this time. He knows that Smith drives an old 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix that was his pride and joy. It was a labor of love and he had restored it in a frame-off total restoration. It had a tan interior and a white exterior. If Colin played his cards right Smith would be buried in his gas guzzler. The BDU personnel had become lax when it came to their own safety never giving their surroundings a second thought. This would be their own downfall.


	8. Chapter 8

Lieutenant Kang was hating this temporary bump up in command as much as he loved it. The paperwork he could do without but with the challenge of doing a job he loved so much the additional paperwork was worth it. When his captain was injured in his son-in-law's murder, he was the best choice to be put into the top spot in the BDU even if it was only a temporary job.

At first, even with the degree, he had in electrical and nuclear engineering he was tested by the bad guys who wanted to show him who was the smarter man. He was the one who had won all of those battles. Since he had taken over for Rick as interim captain the mad bombers seemed to come out of the woodwork. Four major incidents required BDU's presence. The first call out involved a disgruntled ex-mechanic who worked for a school bus company. Empire State Bus Corp. had reported that they were missing a yellow school bus. But the problem was that they were not informed about the missing bus until after it had made it's run picking up school children to drop them off at P.S. 173 in Fresh Meadow. The bus never made it to the school. Instead, the ex-mechanic had picked up the children, drove the bus to the Grand Central Parkway and parked it there with all 37 children on board. Then he left the bus there after he had activated the doors, ceiling vents, and emergency exit windows with sensors tied into three pounds of C-4 explosive and if any of the brats tried to leave, they would blow the whole bus up. He had a car waiting for him to take him away and if anyone followed the bus would be destroyed remotely.

Kang, Baez, and Dave responded to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens and surveyed the situation. Their first objective was to protect the children who were on the bus. Dave being the youngest the group thought that he was easier going when he talked to younger children. They had him walk up to the bus and explain to the kids that under no circumstances were they to exit the bus from any egress point. They all understood and retook their seats until he gave them the all-clear.

Kang and Baez had set up a frequency jammer to prevent anyone from detonating the C-4 via a cell phone or a radio frequency. Then they both got to work disarming the C-4. It was child's play (no pun intended) but this mechanic had wired up the C-4 as if he just got done watching a YouTube video. The children were taken off the bus safely and into the arms of very grateful and happy parents.

The other three incidents involved only what the BDU does on an everyday basis. A concerned citizen had discovered three World War Two unexploded two hundred-and fifty-pound bombs buried deep on Coney Island. That person was using a metal detector and found them and when he dug down to get what was under the sand. Once he reached the ordnance he stopped once he realized when he had found and called the bomb squad.

The BDU dealt with the unexploded old bombs and disposed of them at their Bronx disposal facility.

Xx

Colin had been keeping tabs on Rogers's progression from his surgeries and his physical therapy. It had been about six months and he was ready to jump back into the fray. He had a new plan drawn up for Mr. Smith. His Pontiac was sitting in his garage which was unsecured. There was no way that he would be able to notice anything wrong with his car because he never looks at his surroundings. For a classic car that he had restored by himself and all by his hand, it amazes him that there is no security in place to stop anyone from stealing it whatsoever. There are no alarms on the windows, and there are no cameras either on the back porch of the house or on the garage itself. Colin knows that there is an auto show coming up soon and that he will proudly display his car in. It's in Manhattan right around Battery Park. So maybe along with "Smitty" he'll take out some other people as collateral damage as well.

His father's thinking was devious when he made coated explosive trim plastic parts of the detective's unmarked police unit removed the real ones and replace them with the explosive parts. He would be doing something very basic. The bomb he was going to construct would be attached via a magnet holder on the inside of the frame. And that's about as far as he goes traditionally. The way it would be wired would be with the times and technology that exist today. He would use a tilt switch filled with mercury and a two-hour delay. The reason for the two-hour delay is so he can get Smitty from Brooklyn to Manhattan and get his car set up at the stall that he was going to be showing his car at. He also had another surprise for those who were standing around ogling his classic car. He would have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 ¼ inch ball bearings packed into the frame of the car on both sides. This with the amount of Semtex he decides on will make for a pretty large kill zone.

He had some planning to complete and when he was finished, he'd be rid of one less pain in his ass. "Smitty" could talk Rodgers into doing anything and this fact is what had him worried. His goal was to take out Rodgers and if Smitty was still alive he'd be sure that Rodgers would listen to what he was telling him about who could be trying to kill him and this could not be allowed to happen.

He had been to car shows in Ireland when he was younger and if they are similar here, he would be successful in his plan. Here in the States, the car owners would set up a small tent to shade themselves from the weather right next to their car. They would sit in lawn chairs and if a passerby had a question about their car the car owner would answer them. But mostly it was just people who loved to talk about cars from that decade or century and the memories they had with them.

Xx

Her daughter was spot on with her prediction of the loft being a touch louder than ever before. Kate was blessed with delivering her babies first and this upset Alexis only because she was now two and a half weeks past her due own date. They came into the world with no problems at all. Faith was born first at 11:48 pm on May 17th and Hope was born at 11:54 on the same day.

They had all been in the hospital two days later when Kate was being checked in on by her doctor when the inevitable happened.

She knocked on her mother's hospital door just to give her a slight warning before Alex could barge into the room. She had Alex with her and he was anxious to see his new sisters. Her father was on the third floor busy with his physical therapy and would be coming up when he was done.

"Lexi, can we go in now?" Alex asked.

"Just give mommy a second to get ready. She'll tell us when it's okay to come in. The twins can be a handful."

"Oh okay."

Alexis knocked on the door once again and her mother told her to enter.

"Hi mom," Alexis said as Alex pushed his way through the door.

"Mommy!" Alex shouted as he ran over to her bedside. He looked around and didn't see his sisters anywhere.

"Where are the babies mommy?"

"First peanut we need to be just a little quieter when we come into a room where your sisters might be. But right now, they are in the nursery taking a nap."

"Oh, I thought they might be with you. I really wanted to see them." Alex told her.

"They will be back soon because they need to be fed. You will get to see them. But you need to use your inside voice alright?"

"Yes, mommy."

"So how are you feeling daughter?" Kate asked Alexis.

"I don't want to be pregnant anymore mother. I think they don't want to be born anymore and would rather spend the rest of their lives in my womb."

"Sweetie, I'm sure that your bundles of joy will be here very soon. But for now, I see that your sisters are making an entrance into my room. They're probably starving by now. So, if you would like you can hold one while I feed one and then we'll switch." Kate said as the nurses rolled two bassinets into her room.

Alex watched as his mother as she started to nurse one of his sisters. It wasn't until his older sister asked if he would like to see the sister that she was holding that he looked away and nodded his head yes. When he looked at her, he noticed that she was so very small. Her eyes are open and she was looking all around. That's when his sister started to cry. He asked if he could hold her and his big sister said as long as he sat in the chair next to his mom's bed, she would let him hold her after she calmed her down. Kate looked on as Alex got in the chair and Alexis gently placed Faith in his arms after instructing him how to hold his sister the right way. He held there for about two minutes and that's when she started to fuss a little more. The look of shock on his face as if he did something wrong was priceless. Alexis had explained to him that she was hungry and she was only fussing because she was hungry. Kate had just finished up feeding Hope and was going to start feeding Faith. Alexis took Hope and gave Kate Faith and then she started feeding her. Alex wanted to hold his other sister now and since he had just dealt with a fussy Faith, he thought that Hope would be easier to handle because she had already eaten. And that was the case because Hope fell asleep in his arms. About five minutes later Alexis took back Hope and placed her back in the bassinet.

Alexis turned back to her mother to see if she was finished with feeding Faith and that's when it happened. At first, she thought she was imagining things. But as she looked down to her maternity pants all he can see was wet everywhere. It was mostly on the floor and the second she looked up and her mother was already pushing the nurse call button. Alex was unsure of what was happening now because he saw a big puddle on the floor right where his sister was standing.

"Mommy, what's wrong with Lexis? Is she okay?"

"Peanut she will be fine. She is going to have her own babies very quickly. I think she's in labor right now."

It was then when they when a very painful contraction hit Alexis almost doubling her over where she stood. The fact that she didn't have any warning probably meant that she had already been in labor for the past couple of hours and didn't realize it. The nurse came into the room and they quickly explained what was happening. The nurse sent an orderly to get a wheelchair to admit Alexis into the hospital. After returning with the wheelchair she said goodbye to her mother and Alex.

Xx

Rick had finished his physical therapy and was heading towards the fourth floor when he stepped in the elevator. The car rose to the fourth floor and when the doors opened he almost ran into his daughter who was being pushed down the hallway in a wheelchair and towards the birthing suites.

"Alexis, what's going on? Why are you in a wheelchair?

"Dad, my twins are coming now. I need someone with me so if you're available I'd appreciate you being there with me when they are born."

"Pumpkin there's nowhere I'd rather be then with you. Let me tell your mother where I'll be and I'll see you in a minute or two."

Rick was true to his word. He went to see Faith and Hope and held them each for a little bit and kissed his wife before leaving to help Alexis deliver her new sons.

"Just one more push Alexis then I promise it will all be over." Doctor Toni Acosta told her.

"I am really tired. I don't think that I have one more push left in me to give you."

"You do. I know it hurts but the second you are finished your second son will be here, I promise."

Alexis gathered all the strength she had left in her and gave the doctor one good last push. Five seconds later she gave birth to her second son Kyle.

She fell back on the bed and took in a very large breath and exhaled slowly. She was sore but it was worth it since her sons were both here and healthy. When she looked up at her father all she could see was the awe he held for her. He was very misty-eyed and if she guessed right, he was crying a little.

"Alexis you did great. What are you going to name your other son?" Rick asked.

"I was thinking about the name Robert Michael. What do you think dad?"

Rick thought about it for a minute and concluded that this name was probably very good. So he told her so.

"That's a very strong name honey. I like it. Can I be released of my birthing duties to go tell your mother what you did here today?"

"Sure dad." His daughter smiled at him because she had made him a grandfather and he was a father once again.

TBC

**A/N: To the guest reviewers I can not reply directly to:**

**Guest # 1: Rick is in his early to mid-fifties.**

**Guest # 2: There might be a mole or maybe there isn't. Maybe he can do his homework and figure things out. Only Colin knows. But thanks for your review.**


	9. Chapter 9

Smitty's arm had healed well and he was going to need two arms to get done what he needed to do. His healed arm would get a good workout. Ever since he can remember he had entered his Grand Prix into the classic car show on Staten Island and this year would be no different. But first, he needed to wax his beauty from bumper to bumper. He remembers when he helped his father wax his classic car when he was a kid it was a 1934 Ford Deluxe. This was the same type of car that Bonnie and Clyde had stolen from a home in Topeka Kansas for their crime and murdering spree. His father was proud of his car and could answer any questions about the car anyone cared to ask him.

He entered his garage and got into the Grand Prix. He inserted the key and turned it over. It started on the first try. He backed it out of the garage and pulled it into his work area outside where he could use the daylight to do a great job. There were a couple of other things he needed to do to his car and he wanted it to be ready for the show. First up was a quick oil change and filter. Then check all the fluid levels, grease every fitting on the car, check the rear differential and finally wash and wax it. He was finished with the oil change and the lubrication when he noticed there was a rear brake cable that was rubbing against the drive shaft. It would be a quick fix to reroute it away from the driveshaft so he did that as well. With that done, he took to the task of washing and waxing his baby.

Xx

Colin took in his target as he washed his dinosaur of a car. It was a boat on dry land because the car was huge. He knew that this was his chance and he's glad that he had not done anything to set up his surprise... yet. He watched intensely as Smitty removed the left rear wheel from the car. He wondered why he was doing this and after he had the wheel off, he understood. He was repairing something. This was a blessing for him because it gave him the advantage to see the frame of the car. He could dump his ball bearings into the tie-down holes that GM had put in the frame for transport. This was working out better than he planned. He sat in the bedroom of the foreclosed house across from Smitty's house peering at him through binoculars. He watched for about two hours and had everything he needed to carry out his plan. All he needed to do now is obtain three pounds of Semtex. He had an idea of where to get it but he needed to scope out the location before he made his move.

Xx

Rick loves the sounds of his grandsons and his daughter's crying at the same time because they're either hungry or need a diaper change. Ever since Alexis was discharged from the hospital, he had a company move her stuff from her apartment with Kyle back into the loft. He was sad that she had lost the love of her life and he would find out who this person was who took her husband away from her. He had a couple of leads but nothing panned out. He was studying the bomb vest that was obviously custom made and could not find any clue as to who it could be. There are certain telltale signs that people use when they build something specific. The stitching in the vest, the placement of the explosives, the charges that were used to set it off, and of course the material used in the construction of the vest. He could link anything with the way the vest was made.

Kyle was young so he had no will to speak of. Rick and Kate had taken care of the expenses for his funeral and there was one silver lining for Alexis. When he first took the promotion to district manager he had asked for and received a life insurance policy through Best Buy for a half a million dollars. Alexis was awarded a check two months after the investigation into his death was concluded by the insurance company. They sent a condolence card along with the check telling her that they were sorry for her loss.

Rick was almost finished with his physical therapy and he was glad. He would walk with a slight limp favoring his right leg for the rest of his life but he had passed the physical requirements to be reinstated back into his job as Captain. He had been in touch with Loto for the past couple of weeks and was itching to get back to work. It had him remembering what his wife and daughter had told him when he was in traction in the hospital. He had thought about retiring for a split second but he thought when the time is right, he will. But for now, he will ease back into taking over the BDU.

Xx

Lieutenant Kang was elected as the sacrificial lamb. It had come to the attention of the guys that while they lost Kyle, they also reviewed the video footage of his being abducted and eventually killed. Because he was murdered, they had dug deeper into the circumstances that involved his abduction. They had spent many hours all on their off-duty time to construct their theory. Herman Baez was the one exception to the rule. He had more experience involving these types of explosives and he proved it. Kang, Smitty, along with Dave had reviewed when Kyle was taken. The son of a bitch who took him had purposely stayed away from any camera vantage point. It wouldn't help either way because he was wearing a baseball cap and sunglass (at night no less) and his collar was up around his neck. So, identification was going to be next to impossible but they did notice that it was a male, he stood about 5' 10", he was in his late twenties to early thirties, and he had a tattoo in his left hand. The way he took Kyle was by knifepoint and not with a handgun. That alone had shown them that he was very good with the blade. Most people who are confronted by a man with a knife usually try to take the knife away from the suspect. And Kyle was a big dude.

Herman began digging and had narrowed down the type of explosive from how it was placed in the vest. It was not your common run of the mill C-4, it was a variation of C-4. It still had the explosive power behind it but this type of C-4 did not require a traditional blasting cap to detonate the explosive. A number 8 test blasting cap is one containing 2 grams of a mixture of 80 percent mercury fulminate and 20 percent potassium chlorate. An equivalent strength cap comprises 0.40-0.45 grams of PETN base charge pressed in an aluminum shell with bottom thickness not to exceed to 0.03 of an inch, to a specific gravity of not less than 1.4 g/cc, and primed with standard weights of primer depending on the manufacturer.

Baez had noticed that from the video he watched and rewatched of Kyle tied to the support column, he could tell that the C-4 that was strapped to him had no blasting caps pressed into the explosive. Instead, he did see that there was what appeared to be a bulge in the C-4 that held the number 8 test blasting cap. But what he could not figure out was how a mechanical primer was charged with no source of ignition. He researched almost every source that he could get and what he found was extremely terrifying. The C-4 was packed with an electronic way to activate the C-4. Electronic detonators are designed to provide the precise control necessary to produce accurate and consistent blasting results in a variety of blasting applications. However, wireless electronic detonators are beginning to be available and they are being used without being able to be traced. Encrypted radio signals are used to communicate the blast signal to each detonator at the correct time. While currently expensive, wireless detonators can enable new techniques as multiple blasts can be loaded at once and fired in sequence. This what Baez found in the video. It was a series of multiple blasts instead of one single detonation. For the life of him, he could not figure out why their bomber wanted to have separate blasts instead of just one.

He had been reading about miners in the US and abroad who set off many detonations in a mine without being present. This was good because they could set the charges in the mine and activate the blasts separately in a ten-second gap keeping the miners safe from the collapse of the mine. They used an encrypted radio signal and that had him thinking.

Xx

"Hey Rick how do you feel?" Loto asked as he stood up from behind Rick's desk.

"I'm doing good. PT will be finished soon next week and I can't wait to get back here."

"About that Rick… I will give you everything that we've been doing since you were hurt."

"Loto, it seems to me that you are a little apprehensive about my coming back. Please rest easy. You were you only following orders. So how has it been? Do you see yourself taking over on a permanent basis?"

"Wait… what? Are you leaving?"

No sooner did Loto finish his sentence when Smitty came in the office hearing the last part of their conversation.

"No! Don't tell me it's true! Rick Castle is going to retire?"

"Smitty just keep it down, will you. I'm not doing anything right away. I still have to finish my PT and then ease back into my job as Captain."

"Oh, okay. I bet Kate had a lot to tell you about giving up your spot and retiring didn't she."

"She might have but that's besides the point. I'm getting just a little too old for this. The younger set needs to take over."

"Well before we get into that we have some information for you about Kyle."

Rick stood there looking pale. He wondered what they had found out. He could only nod knowing he could not trust his voice.

"Come on Cap lets move this into the conference room," Loto said.

For the next hour Loto, Smitty, Herman and even Dave had something to contribute to their theory. But it was Herman who had given him the most to work from.

"Rick there is no way that this guy just threw these items together and pushed a button detonating that vest. This guy was showing you that he can strike at any time and at anybody he chooses. The vest was custom made and the C-4 he used was not your off the shelf C-4. This stuff was, dare I say it homemade. It takes a special kind of crazy to carry this out. You need to watch out for Alexis, Kate and your babies Rick." Herman warned.

"How crazy is this guy?" Smitty asked.

Herman thought about his answer for a minute or two before telling the group.

"Let's put it this way, I'd say that he started planning what he did to Kyle at least four months before he actually carried it out. He is methodical in his planning and he seems to have little regard for life including his own. I would not be that surprised if he had a small amount of explosive on his person to detonate if he was put in a position where he might be caught."

"Now that's borderline psychotic. How long before you think he'll strike again?"

"Now that's hard to say, boss. This guy is nuts and I don't have a clue. But I can tell you that he seems to be targeting either the BDU or you." Herman tells Rick.

"Yeah, I had a feeling that you were going to say that."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

He's been back for a week now and it seems as if he never left. But he did but it was not his choice his son-in-law had died on that day. There are days after he leaves the BDU that all he wants to do is go home and vegetate on his sofa in front of the TV. But that's next to impossible because he has his daughters and his grandsons are always sounding off in cycles. It's like they have a secret form of communication.

"Rick, can you get me a new package of baby wipes, please?" Kate calls out to him from the twin's room.

Usually, he would jump at her request, hell he'd even relieve her and change both of his daughters but he just didn't seem to have the energy to move right now.

"Dad, I'll get them for mom don't worry," Alexis says as she looked down at him lounging on the couch.

Ever since Alexis had moved in with her children, they were absolute angels. They never made a mess, they always slept longer than they had to at nap time, and after turning three months old, they were almost sleeping through the night. Alexis was able to get a solid five hours of uninterrupted sleep during the night. Even when they woke up, they were never that fussy they both mostly just entertained themselves until they needed to be changed.

His children, on the other hand, were the opposite of his daughters. There would be times when one would stop crying when she got her bottle but then the other would start. It's like they have a secret code just to drive their parents crazy. Then there was diaper duty. Once Hope was changed and cleaned up Faith decided that she simply had to be changed as well. Even though she was just changed less than twenty minutes ago.

But today was Saturday and it was the day they had looked forward to for most of the week. They were all going to take a trip out to Staten Island to see the antique car show. It had been a long week and now it was time to relax and see some classic Detroit iron.

Xx

Smitty had everything finished on his Grand Prix. The car was washed, waxed, and ready to roll. The oil had been changed and he even ordered a new set of chrome hubcaps direct from Pontiac in Detroit. They were sent by Federal Express and arrived yesterday. It was a find that he thought he would never get his hands on. General Motors had released a lot of their older parts just to get rid of them and the ones he had were pitted with a small amount of rust so these brand new stock hubcaps made the car what it is now.

He heads out to the garage to make one last check of his car. He starts it up and listens to the 6.6-liter engine purr and backed it up out of the garage. He decided to remove the T-tops and place them in their protective covers in the trunk seeing that it was such a bright and sunny day out. Now all he had to do was grab his poster board describing the car he owns and all of the trophies that he places in front of the car when it's on display.

Xx

Colin had never thought his luck was going to be this good. He had waited for Smitty to leave for work and then he got to work. The ploy he used was a brilliant one he thought to himself as he crossed the street and into his back yard. If anyone was curious about why he was there at Smitty's house he could show them the order paperwork he had with Smitty's signature on it for a delivery he authorized. He had rented a small cargo van complete with a hand truck to complete the look. He had over 10,000 ¼ inch ball bearings in a wooden crate that was three feet by two feet. Inside the crate was a plastic bag that held all the ball bearings. He had loaded the crate onto the hand truck and rolled it away from the van. He was methodical in his own way as to inflict the most amount of damage to anyone who happened to be near this car.

He first placed the mercury switch hidden on the inside of the frame near the brake master cylinder so it would be overlooked. There was no way that it would be found even if you were looking for it specifically. With this done, he had opened the crate and removed the plastic bag from the box. He had a funnel placed in the tie down hole and scooped out the ball bearings with a small garden shovel. This made his job so much easier. When he was done filling the frame, he checked the placement of the bearings and then went to his bag to get the Semtex. It was very stable for being homemade and he wondered if those morons at the BDU would realize that this was his own creation. He thought about how to place it and he came up with the idea of rolling it out in the shape of a thin rope and run it along the frame.

It worked out perfectly. The emergency brake cable that ran down along the frame provided a way to secure the Semtex the the frame without being found or coming loose in transit. He spray painted the rope of Semtex black to hide it even more. The car that was recently restored from the frame up had no rust on it at all so the black paint covered the Semtex perfectly. The last item to place was the two leads from the mercury switch to the Semtex and provide a power source for the switch. He used the cars 12-volt battery to power the switch. Checking his work one last time he cleaned everything up and left the way he came, almost like a ghost.

Xx

The car show was one of the best to attend. It drew cars from as far south as Florida and as far West as Chicago. This was the 35th year it was being held and there was a record of entries this year. The committee had to separate the cars by the decade that they were made. Then there was the modified, stock, and racer categories and each had their own decade. They even thought about putting each manufacturer's cars into groups but they decided against it.

It turned out that the people who entered the show usually kept their cars grouped together. All the Chevelle's were together, all the Mustangs and Road Runners were together, and all the GTOs were together as well, there was even a foreign car section.

Smitty decided to get an early start on the day and he was up by 6 am. The show started at 9 am so he ate a very sensible breakfast had a cup of good coffee and was out the door by 7:30. He was driving along Interstate 278 from his new house.

2011 Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn was a steal and he should really be thanking that the lunatic who blew up his old house because he was doing him a favor. With the money he received from the insurance company he was able to purchase the house in Bay Ridge for $300,000 less than the asking price because the owners were motivated to sell. With the extra money left over from the purchase of the house, he was able to furnish the whole place. He even had enough money left over to outfit his garage with a new air compressor, a full line of hand tools, and he was able to heat the garage in the winter and cool it in the summer.

Miller Field on Staten Island was the location for the car show. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge stood majestically not far from the park. The park was an old military base long since abandoned. There were still old buildings that the military left standing when the base was closed and the graffiti artists had left their mark on them over and over again. The area across from the buildings was where the cars would be staging.

Xx

Colin had already taken measures to access the park and was already in position by the time Smitty had left for the car show. The old abandoned military building overlooking the grounds was the perfect place to be and not be seen. He had a small telescope set up to watch the moment when he finally eliminated the bastard's best friend. It would take some time but he'd wait patiently to take him out. He would love to see the look on his face and that's why he has the telescope in those last possible second before his life ends, he knows what it will look like and that will make him very happy.

Time passes and the field is now filling up with classic cars. They have parking lot attendants to guide the cars of people who drive to the event and they are parking them on the outside perimeter of the field. The cars in the show are almost lined up in a perfect line. The owners are proudly sitting in front of their prides of joy. Most of the people admiring the cars have been asking questions. He can see Smitty talking spiritedly with people who just love his car this plan could not be going any better.

But then it all turns to shit. All his planning and hard work are going to be for nothing. The second he sees them he panics as he verifies that they're actually there at the other end of the telescope. He can't follow through with this now because the bastard has just walked up to Smitty's car with his wife, children, daughter, and her kids. Then it gets a lot worse. The other members of the BDU stroll up and start looking at the car putting themselves directly in the blast zone. There is no way he can stop what is about to happen. He could care less about the other BDU members but Smith, but he wants to make Castle suffer the way he has, painfully and to do that he needs to kill him on a more personal and private level. The only problem is that the mercury switch he wired up was set for a two-hour delay and that two hours will be up in less than 8 minutes. He runs everything through his mind and can come up with only one way to prevent the detonation from happening. He will need to send a signal to the test blasting cap. The problem with that is he is too far from the car for the signal to stop the blasting cap from setting off the Semtex. He knows that he has taken this into consideration and has about five minutes to play with.

He leaves the building and walks out to blend in with the people gawking at the cars. As he cuts through the crowd, he knows that he needs to be at least 100 yards from the car to deactivate the blasting cap and with the crowd getting denser he hopes that he can make it in time. He also knows that he will never get the chance that he was given today. The deactivation of the blasting cap will cause a small amount of smoke from the insulation melting off the leads from the Semtex. Luckily it won't be enough of a means to set off the explosive.

He can see all of them standing around the car and he retrieves the coded fob from his pocket that has the encrypted frequency and waits a little bit before pushing the button. He watches them as he depresses the button and within seconds the smoke that he knew would happen starts to float up around the frame of the car and out from the sides and under the hood.

"Smitty? What's going in with your car?" Charlie asks as a small amount of black smoke rises from under the car.

"I have no idea. I went over every square inch of my car yesterday. Nothing should be going wrong with it. there's no reason for it to be smoking the way it is."

Rick has a bad feeling about this and he tells Kate and Alexis to move away from the car just to be on the safe side.

"Smitty, since the hood is already up let's take a look at underneath the car and maybe near the firewall because that's where it looks like the smoke is coming from," Rick suggests.

"Okay, Rick. But I swear I have looked over everything yesterday. There's nothing that can be causing the car to smoke like this."

Dave and Herman have already seen this type of scenario play out before. What he sees is a car bomb waiting to take out at least fifty to one hundred people or maybe even more.

"Boss, let me and Dave take a look at this. I've seen this type of smoke before and I think it's in line with the cartels down in South America. Smitty, I promise that we won't damage anything while we are looking for what we're looking for."

"Alright." Smitty agrees.

Dave and Herman borrow a floor jack from two stalls away from where Smitty's car is. He carefully places the jack under the frame of the car closer to where the driver sits and not in the middle of the car because they want to pick up the heavier part of the car where the engine is. Since Herman is about 252 pounds, it would be impossible for him to fit under the car so Dave gets the job to squeeze under the driver's side and take a look around. The second need does he knows things are very bad. He can smell the fresh spray paint and while he knows Smitty had the cars frame repeated this is new paint and not old. He touches the rope explosive attached to the brake line running along the frame and then he turns his head to the right and sees the two leads from the mercury switch that's mounted under the master cylinder.

"Rick, you need to move everyone back from this car. Clear about 200 feet from this spot in all directions. There are about two and a half pounds of Semtex wired to Smitty's car."

"Everybody, back you heard the man move now or else. Kate, I want you in Alexis to go home that is the safest place for you right now. I'll be along when I can because now this just became a crime scene." Rick tells her.

"Babe, please don't do this. You just came back three days ago. You need to delegate someone else to investigate this incident." Kate demands.

"This is my job Kate. This is what the city pays me to do. But what I will do is make sure that the scene is secure have Loto take over the investigation and make sure that this car is moved to a location where it won't do anyone any harm. And then I will be back home."

"Promise?" Kate counters.

"I promise."

Xx

Colin slowly walks past the group of BDU personnel, hears them talking about what to do about the car and he catches the request from the bastard's wife. She wants him to leave right now but he calms her down. He'll get his due maybe not right now but he will get his revenge. He needs to go home and think about how he will be able to take his father's killer out without raising that much suspicion because he knows that one fact is true now… they will be looking for just about anything and for him, that's not good.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Knowing that he had blown the chance to take out Smitty he decided on doing something on a grander scale. He knew now that they would be looking at his car with a fine-tooth comb for any clues as to how the Semtex was placed there. He had heard about his father's brush with the law when he tried to take out Castle. And while he didn't exactly go after anyone in particular, he did cause chaos and destruction in his wake.

But it's the second brute that he finds interesting. Aashif Kazim. Now, this guy gave the BDU a run for their money. He could see where he went wrong though because he went for too much too fast. Trying to take out Castle at a medical office building by setting explosives inside the elevator shaft was ingenious. He just never took in the drive that Smitty had by disobeying orders and finding the trigger that would have killed the bastard and his wife on any other day.

He needed to find a way to take some heat of himself and it would be a couple of days before he could find the right plan to do this so in the meantime he would lay low. He had thought about a mass bombing that could take out many locations at once but then he himself would need to be at each location to see the damage being done so no that was not the way to go. He needed one location and since there was only one BDU unit in the city he knew that Castle would be the one responding to whatever threat that presented itself.

Xx

Rick had Smitty's car towed very carefully to the forensics lab in lower Manhattan. Once it had been delivered the lab personnel went over everything that was not stock on the car. What they found was something they never expected. Whoever planted the explosive material on Smitty's car was a sick son of a bitch. The Semtex was custom made, actually homemade. But what they really were curious about was the test blasting cap. It was activated or deactivated with an encrypted radio signal. And that is what they think caused the smoke to billow out from under his car. They had carefully removed the leads from the mercury switch to the Semtex and found that the insulation was burnt off and this was the cause for the black smoke. They put it in a secure container for further inspection. The unexploded Semtex was brought up to the Bronx where it was detonated safely.

The blasting cap and the mercury switch were brought to BDU for further analysis. What they didn't find on the items were fingerprints, DNA, or any other incriminating evidence that would lead to whoever and planted the bomb on Smitty's car. So now they know that this guy or girl is very careful in how they planted the bomb in his car. What they need to do now is review any security camera footage that might give them a clue as to who did this. But what they need to do first is complete a full canvas in the area around Smitty's house. Somebody had to see something.

Rick had just arrived at Smitty's neighborhood when his cell phone rang. Before he answered it he had instructed Dave, Herman, Charlie, and Smitty to conduct a quick canvas of the neighborhood within a half-mile radius of his house. Then he answered his phone.

"Castle."

"Captain this is Garrett down at the lab. I think you had better get back here. We found something that could be important to your investigation."

"Garrett can you just tell me this over the phone?" Rick asks.

"No Sir it is easier to show you then to explain what I found."

"Okay, I'll be there in thirty minutes." Rick wonders what could be so important as he hangs up the phone. He tells Dave that he is leaving and that he and the rest of his men do their best to get any information on who could have been near Smitty's house within the past couple of days.

The ride back to lower Manhattan takes longer than he expected. Traffic was the issue. He knows it's late because the sun is almost done setting so it's at least after five pm and he knows that no one will be there when he finally does arrive. He parks the BDU truck in an official spot across the street from the lab. He quickly hobbles across the street due to his limp and he enters the lab. He walks downstairs to the garage area where the car is being stored and the first person he sees is Garrett.

"So Garrett what did you find that's so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone?"

"Captain I need you to get on a creeper and then I'll show you what I found," Garrett told him.

Garrett gets on one of the two creepers that are at the back end of the car. Rick knows that whatever this is it's going to be big. So, he gets on the creeper that is next to Garrett and they both roll under Smitty's car which is resting on four jack stands. About halfway under the car, they both stop.

"Captain what I'm going to show you is something we never thought we would have seen. We thought that the Semtex and the way it was planted were the only threat. This car being as old as it is has an actual steel channel frame it measures 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide and extends from the front bumper to the back bumper. And if you notice it has tie-down holes all throughout the frame. They used these tie-down holes mostly when the cars were being transported after they were built. The railroad companies and the trucking companies used the front and rear holes to hold the car down with chains while it was being transported. What I have in my hand is a very strong magnet. Just watch what happens when I run it along the frame the bottom of the frame."

Garrett attaches the magnet to the frame and slides it along the bottom until he reaches the first set of tie-down holes. What Rick sees is unbelievable.

"How large are those ball bearings Garrett?" Rick asks.

"They measure a quarter inch in diameter. Now if you slide out from under the car, I'll show you how many of them they were."

They both get out from under the car and walk over to the container that holds all the ball bearings. About they weigh about 68 pounds and if he were to guess Rick would think there'd be about 8000 of them.

"Sitting in that container on the scale are 10,473 quarter-inch ball bearings. If that Semtex would have detonated on that day in the park where the car show was you would be looking at a minimum of 500 to 1000 people losing their lives just from the ball bearings alone. The concussion from the Semtex being detonated would have probably taken out anywhere from another 60 to 100 people." Garrett explains.

"So could this guy be a serial bomber Garrett?" Rick asks.

"Hard to say Cap. He could just be doing this for kicks or he has a hard-on for BDU. Either way would I very seriously think about watching my back if I were you. Because what I think is that he is going to do is something that is on a larger scale. The car show was mere peanuts to this guy he's going to strike at something very public and it will be very deadly."

"Damn. Thanks, Garrett."

Rick is up and out of the lab and almost to his truck. He has his phone to his ear and Smitty's phone is ringing on the other end.

"Smitty any luck with the canvas?" Rick asks when he answers.

"Rick Charlie had one kid who was home sick from school on that day and the only thing he saw was a white minivan across the street from my house. He didn't get a plate number or description of the guy who was driving it, only that it was a small white van."

"Alright. I need you to return back to headquarters. We have a big problem."

"Okay, Rick. It's 6:40 pm now there should be minimal traffic so we should be back in forty minutes."

"I'm leaving the lab now so I will be there before you. Bye Smitty."

"Bye Rick."

Xx

Kate had everything under control. For once Faith and Hope had been nursed, changed and put down for a nap. Now that this was done, she was able to take a little time for herself. But instead of doing that she knew that somebody was after her BDU family. She only had so much time left before she had to go back to work from maternity leave and if she was going to do anything it would have to be now. She knows that her investigation into Rick's past is what made her love him that much more. But at the time when she did look into his past, she only gathered enough information to solve the issue that was going on in their lives at the time. She never did go any further than she had to try to figure out who was after him. And then she did have her daughter who also helped her out. She doesn't really want to involve her anymore because number one she just lost her husband and number two she has two very precious lives to care for now.

She's going to have to start an investigation on her own and behind his back because she knows that if he ever finds out what she's doing he will probably end up disowning her. It's one of the stipulations he put forth before they were married that if he ever found out she was doing something without his knowledge it wouldn't end well.

She knows that the car bomb that was intended to explode on Saturday's car show on Staten Island was a way to take out the whole BDU unit. But something must've gone wrong and that is what makes her believe this is bigger than just taking out a group of city employees. She doesn't know if the person who was going to detonate the Semtex had a change of heart or he decided that the conditions were not right and ditched the whole plan or there was an underlying problem. She thinks it is going to be the latter. She guesses that whoever this person was he or she had a specific target in mind and since everybody was there, she has no way of knowing who the intended target was. What she's going to need to do is to go see a very old and dear friend of theirs and hopefully she might have some answers for her.

She calls Alexis out from the upstairs room that she had lived in for most of their marriage. It was easier for them to knock down a wall between Alexis' old room and the spare guest room and make it one whole room. She still had some work to do to make it her own but she was making progress.

"Yeah, mom? Did you need me?"

"I do. I need to know if your babies are sleeping."

"They just went down about ten minutes ago."

"God it's like they are in tune with each other. Hope and Faith just went down too."

Alexis had made her way to the living room and sat down on the couch waiting for her mom to continue.

"Listen to me baby, I need to look into something and I'll be gone for about three hours can you watch your sisters for me until I return?"

"Mom? What's going on? Where are you going?" Alexis asked.

"Alexis I promise I will tell you if I can find out anything."

"Wait a second you're going to do something that dad told you not to do aren't you?

"Not at all baby I'm just going to see an old friend. I should be back before too long. Just keep an eye on your sisters and your two sons and everything will be fine." Kate said as she gathered up her purse and her keys heading for the door.

"But mom…" Alexis called out but she had already left through the front door. Now she was worried about her mother. She knew whatever she was up to it would have a terrible outcome.


	12. Chapter 12

She pulls up to their old apartment building and parks the car across the street due to the construction that is going on around the building. The building has gone through some changes since she's been here last. And that is her problem. She hasn't been here in such a long time it's actually sad. She should have been back to visit sooner. Getting out she locks the car up and walks across the street. When she gets to the front door, she hits the buzzer for her friend. Seconds later a man's voice is heard through the small speaker.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm looking for Mary Anne. Is she home?" Kate asks.

It seems that the man on the other end of the speaker is not going to answer her or he is put off by her request but after about 30 seconds she hears this instead.

"Can I ask who this is?" The distorted voice asks through the small speaker

"This is Kate Castle. I am Mary Anne's friend."

"Well Kate Castle, Mary Anne's friend, she is not home right now."

"Do you know when she will be back?"

"Listen lady is there something I can do for you, I am kind of busy right now and I really don't have the time to talk to you right now."

"Yes, there is. I want to talk to Mary Anne Janowski and I am not leaving until I do!" Kate demands.

"Well, that's impossible because right now she is at the Isabella Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Queens. She had a stroke about five months ago. You're welcome to visit her if you need to see her that badly."

"Can I ask who in the hell this is?"

"I'm her son lady. Now leave will ya." He said disgustedly.

She's back to her car and driving away before she gives her actions another thought. She'll take her son's advice and go to the nursing home to see her. She is her friend and nothing will ever stop her from doing that.

Xx

She keeps going over it in her mind and can't believe that Mary Anne had a stroke. Sure, she was getting older and this could happen to anybody but to her, Mary Anne was a strong woman. She remembers the last time that they were together her whole family was there (Alex was only an infant at the time) as well as her sister and her sister's daughter. What she never remembers her having is a son and that's what's got her thinking. She never remembers seeing pictures of a boy growing up in Mary Anne's apartment just pictures of her sister and her sister's children. As she slows down to the red light that's coming up, she needs to find out what is going on. She hangs a U-turn in the middle of the street and then speeds back to Mary Anne's building. If she's lucky she could still catch him and Mary Anne would be safe in her apartment. She knows where the spare key is kept for her apartment and all she needs to do is gain access to the lobby to get into the building. She brings her police issued Charger to a screeching halt and leave it double-parked in the middle of the street with the engine still running.

As luck would have it, Mrs. Kirkpatrick is leaving to go shopping and recognizes Kate as she runs back up to the door. Being the considerate woman that she is she holds the door for her.

"Thanks, Mrs. Kirkpatrick," Kate says as she runs past the older woman.

"You're welcome, dearie. Go get 'em."

She runs up the staircase and gets to the second floor. Mary Ann's apartment is the third one on the left across from Rick's old apartment. Once she is in front of the door, she kneels down to grab the spare key that's under the mat in front of her door. Knowing that there could be something wrong inside she pulls up the pant leg of her jeans and takes out her Glock 42 .380 APC that's in her ankle holster. She leans in to listen for any sounds coming from the condo but hears nothing. She hopes that there will be no need for it but it never hurts to be prepared.

She reaches for a door handle and tries to turn the doorknob and to her surprise, the handle twists and the door opens without the key. She pushes it open slightly just to survey the situation that's in front of her and hopefully, this will all end with just a simple arrest.

But what she sees hardens her heart and at the same time, it increases her heart rate substantially.

Her friend Mary Anne is duct-taped and bound with rope to a chair at her kitchen table. Not knowing what to expect and to keep her silhouette as invisible as possible she pushes the door open closes it and crouches down before the suspect and sees her at all. She takes in the situation at hand and knows that this will end one of two ways. Either with an arrest of the suspect or her suspect severely injured because there is no way that she will let anything happen to her friend or herself for that matter. She quietly makes her way around the wall that is adjacent to the front entry door and stopped where it ends. She sees that the suspect is rifling through Mary Anne's fire-safe box on the kitchen counter. She knows that that's where she keeps all of her hard cash, stock certificates, and the deed to her condo.

She can see the terror in her friend's eyes as they lock together with each other from her spot across the room. And instantly her face becomes very relaxed in the knowledge that her friend is there to help her. It is almost as if she knows everything will be just fine.

"Lady there has to be more than just this! I know that you are hoarding away your cash so tell me where you are hiding it all." The thief says as he holds up two small fistfuls of bills from the fireproof box. Kate can see that this will be something that needs to be dealt with swiftly. She moves from the corner of the wall and hides behind Mary Anne's recliner. From here she gets a better view of what she's dealing with. She sees an older .38 caliber Smith & Wesson most likely a police-issued weapon lying on the kitchen table. She pops up and looks at her options long enough not be seen by this guy. She lowers her body quietly back down to formulate a plan but as she does Mary Anne speaks.

"All the cash I have is in my box as you can see. I am an old woman and I live on a fixed income. All I have is in that box." Mary Anne said sternly.

"Yeah well, I'm sure you don't mind if I don't believe you."

Kate kept watching for an opportunity to get in and surprise this guy and not cause anyone any injuries. Watching for a little bit longer she thinks that she has a plan. But that is until Mary Anne has other plans for her.

"Listen, lady, I know that there is more cash here…. somewhere. So make it easier on yourself and tell me where it is then I can kill you with a clear conscience."

The thief did not believe Mary Anne and decided that she was lying to him and he turned to search her condo for more money or other valuables.

Mary Anne was no slouch. Her mother and father raised a very strong little girl who grew up to be a person who'd take no one's shit at all. As the thief walked past her, she stuck her leg out between his feet as he walked away, he faceplanted his head right on her very fine Italian ceramic tiled kitchen floor.

Kate knew that this was her opportunity. From the side of the recliner, she jumped out and advanced towards the kitchen before he could get back up. As she approached the guy he was already up and had taken his gun from the table at a speed that she thought was superhuman. Knowing that this situation was going to end badly she raised her weapon and pressed it against the side of his head saying this,

"You had better think really hard about your next move because if you even think about pulling that trigger, I will end you without even thinking about it."

"Prove it, bitch!" The suspect screamed out never lowering his gun that was pointed at Mary Anne.

Kate knew a person who was bluffing and this guy was one of them. So to make him reconsider she cocked the hammer on her Glock that rested against his head pushing it harder into his skull to prove her point.

"Is this proof enough? Because if it isn't the next thing we will see is your brains splattered all over that wall right there." Kate said.

The thief considered his options and knew that this was not a situation he could win. He slowly lowered his .38 back onto the table and raised his hands in the air. Kate slid his gun to the opposite side of the table and it fell onto the floor out of his reach. She did not have her cuffs on her but instead, she noticed the roll of duct tape that was still on the kitchen table. She pulled his left arm down and then his right and rolled the tape around both of his wrists and sat him down in the kitchen chair.

"You're under arrest for armed robbery and breaking and entering. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as I have told them to you."

The suspect nodded.

"I need a verbal yes or no answer not the nod of your head," Kate demanded as she put her back up weapon back into her ankle holster.

"Yes. Just who in the hell are you lady?"

"I'm a captain with the NYPD. 12th precinct to be exact. And you my friend just tried to rob the wrong lady."

Kate called Ryan at the 12th and had the suspect transported, processed, filed the charges against him and brought to holding all within an hour.

Xx

"Mary Anne, are you okay?" Kate asked as she cuts the duct tape from her wrists and the rope that's around her torso that held her to the kitchen chair.

"I'm fine Kate. Nothing gets me more riled up than someone who wants to get something for nothing." Mary Anne says as she rubs her wrists.

"I'm glad that you're okay. If you need some counseling for what happened here today, I can arrange for someone to come and see you if you think it would help."

Mary Ann hmphed at her suggestion.

"Kate I was raised in a house with four brothers and two sisters. I have my ways of dealing with things like this. I'll be fine don't you worry about me. Can I ask why you're here?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot with everything that was going on. I need to talk to you about Rick in a sense."

"Alright let me put the kettle on and we'll have some tea and talk."

Xx

Fifteen minutes later Kate was sitting down across from Mary Anne taking the first savory sip of her tea.

"Mary Anne I need some information if you have it."

"What about Kate?" Mary Anne was intrigued now.

"Someone is trying to take out my husband and maybe his whole team."

"What do you want to know?"

"I need to know who would want to kill him."

"Kate that could be a very long list. Many people have been incarcerated by Rick for their crimes. He has made many enemies.

"I know that he has a lot of enemies but there has to be one that stands out from his past. Can you think of anyone who might fit the bill?"

"No, but I am not aware of his whole history. I knew of his ties with the IRA but that was so long ago and severed those ties before he came to the U.S. I'm inclined to think that most of the people Rick knew then are long gone from this earth."

"Mary Anne whoever this was could have taken out me, our children, Rick and his whole team with a car bomb."

"A car bomb you say?"

"Yes, why?"

"No, it's nothing. He's dead now."

"Who is?"

"Daniel O'Connor. But you'd know him better as Colin. He's the one who came after Rick years ago. Since he's dead now it can't be him."

"Wait you think that Daniel could have done something like this?"

"Kate that man was a genius but he used his brainpower for evil. Were he alive yes, I know that he would be capable of doing something like this. For him, it would be mere child's play."

"Well, it's a good thing he died in the explosion that day."

"I read about it in the papers. He died the way he lived, a sad broken man."

"I'm glad that he never had any children to pass his crazy onto. Now that would be a whole different situation to deal with."

Mary Anne stilled knowing that she might be right. She needed Kate to leave and quickly. She wanted to check out something that she knew could not be the truth but there was always that possibility. She still had a connection to Belfast and she needed to make a call.

"Kate dear, I'm afraid that with your unexpected visit and me almost being robbed has tired me out some. I see that you are finished with your tea. Be a dear and please clear our cups on your way out?" Mary Anne asks.

"Sure thing Mary Anne. I'm glad that I could stop you from becoming another statistic earlier."

"Thank you, Kate. You have saved me in so many ways, ways you'll never know about."

Kate takes the teacups and places them on the counter by the sink. She waves goodbye to her friend as she leaves the condo. By the time she gets to her car, she realizes that her friend has given her the good old brush off. Now she has to find out why.

Xx

Mary Anne hopes that what she's thinking won't be true because if it is her friend and their family are not safe in the least. After she checks to see that Kate has indeed left, she picks up the phone and calls a person she knows who'll give her the answers she needs. The phone rings and rings with no answer. She quickly checks her watch to see the time and knows that someone should be home. Just as she is about to hang up the call connects.

"'ello Aibreann?"

"Mary Anne is dat you?"

"It is me friend. 'ow 'ave you been?"

"Ahh you know I can't cahmplain. Sence it's been damp me arthritis 'as been actin oehp.

"I am there wit you I 'ave de same affliction. 'ow are yar cheldren doin?"

"Dey're doin joehst fine all grown oehp and livin deir own lives."

"Glad to 'ear it. do you 'ave time for a chat?"

"I do. Niall wahn't be back oehntil soehpper."

"Good. I need to talk to you abooeht sahmeone you might know in Belfast."

"Who might dat be Mary Anne?"

"Niamh 'oehstahn. (Huston) She's sahmewhere in Belfast."

"Aye dat she is. I know o' 'er. What do you want to know?"

"Ded she ever 'ave any keds?

"She ded. why do you ask?"

"Lad ahr lass?"

"Lad. 'e shooehld be in 'is mid-twenties by now."

"Ahh 'eavens no. I 'ave a bad feelin abooeht dis."

"Why?"

"Because I dink 'e's goin after me friend 'ere in de states. Do you recall 'is name?"

"Chad, Charles... no Cahlin dat's it!"

"Aibreann I really need to go. Boeht I'll talk wit you soon den we can 'ave a good lahng chat."

"Mary Anne take care naht to get yooehrself into too much trooehble. I know you too well."

"I'll be carefoehl. Good bye to you Aibreann."

"Goodbye, my friend."

Xx

Mary Anne hangs up and thinks about what she needs to do next. Now that she has a name, she can search for Colin's mum. But she is no detective and that leads her to believe that giving this information to Kate would be best. Knowing that she and her family could be in a lot of trouble she pulls up a search engine for finding people in the Republic of Ireland without any trace of her doing just that. She pulls up the site and is shown the opening page.

_**Welcome to Free People Search Global Northern Ireland page, one of the largest Free People Search for Northern Ireland.**_

Mary Anne types in the name Niamh Huston into the blank search box hits enter and then taps her fingers on her table while she waits for the results to load. It doesn't take that long before she has a list of three women with that name on her laptop screen. _This is perfect_ she thinks to herself as she clicks on the first name. She reads the person's age, address and quickly moves to the next name because this woman is in her eighties. The next name she clicks on is of a woman who lives too far North and has five children. The last name is the one she hits the jackpot with.

Niamh Huston gave birth to a boy in October of 1999. On the birth certificate, the father's name is blank and she was given a pass on paying the larger of the bills for giving birth to her son by the hospital. She did have to pay for the medications that they both needed after he was born and that was a lot. She has an address in Belfast and according to the website phone number as well. The address is 12 Mica Drive in Belfast. It is an area is she knows quite well. The flats there are almost on top of each other it's small but big enough to survive on practically limited funds.

What she needs to do is tell Kate what she's thinking but she still needs to do more research before she can. She wants this to be a slam dunk and if this the offspring of Colin and he is the one who is threatening them well then, she will make sure that he can't hurt anyone else again.

Xx

Colin had listened very well when he was taking his computer classes as a child. He had also listened very well when the hacker that he had known had given him many many secrets of the trade. And it has paid off in spades. He gets an alert on his cell phone and he quickly takes it out to read who had tripped his firewall. The alert system that he had added to the website through the back door of People Search Global Northern Ireland has given him the IP address of someone not that far away.

He triangulates the IP address through, of all things, Google Maps and what he comes up with is an address in Manhattan. He's in the process right now of building the bomb for his swan song. This will be his masterpiece he can feel it. But what he needs to do is take care of some business that could possibly put a kink in all his plans. He moves from his workbench to his desk, flips open the laptop lid, and pulls up the address that was last searched for by last by the IP address listed on his phone. The person who had searched for his mother's name, address and phone number would not see the dawn of the coming day.

He decided that an explosive end to whoever this person is will be a no-no. Too much attention could be drawn to himself. He can't be involved in another bomb type of death so close to him killing Kyle. He decides that this person will meet their fate by a poorly maintained pilot light. It is amazing what you can find someone's house to kill them without them even knowing it. It can be anything from as common as household chemicals mixed in the right proportions to a faulty gas line to an appliance. Leaving his masterpiece for when he returns, he leaves his Brooklyn apartment and takes the subway to within walking distance of the building that has committed the web search. Walking slowly to make sure he has the right area he takes out a scanner that can scan every IP address in the building and turns it on. He's in luck because whoever performs this search lives on what could be the second floor.

He needs to get inside the building and as he looks up from his scanner, he sees an older woman leaving the building and makes for the front door before it closes. She was even kind enough to hold it for him when she told him not to run to get inside. Once he is on the second floor, he starts scanning each unit as he walks down the hallway. By the time he gets to the third one on the left, the signal he is seeing is a spot-on match for the IP address that did the search. The door is locked but that's not a problem for him. He pulls on powder-free nitrile examination gloves and looks at the lock. This will be too easy. Once he picks the lock, he is surprised to find an older woman asleep on the recliner in the living room. He moves cautiously and quietly through the apartment. Entering the kitchen, he looks at the stove and the gas line connection to it. To get the gas to flow quickly he opens the door and extinguishes the pilot light. Then he unscrews the line to the stove to really get the place filled up with the invisible gas. He needs to make sure that she won't wake up if his plan is to succeed. Seeing a very large vase on the nick knack shelf he picks it up to break over her head.

As he reaches for the vase, he sees something that makes his blood boil even more. On the shelf next to the vase are pictures of people. He studies them closer and there is a picture of the bastard and his family. He's startled by what he hears next.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my home?" Mary Anne shouts out as she tries to get out of the recliner.

The next thing she knows the man in her home is charging at her. As he does he is raising his arm up with the vase in his hand. She can't stop what she knows will happen next and the next thing she feels is a very heavy vase smash down on the top of her head. She is rendered unconscious instantly and falls back into the recliner.

Colin is pleased with the way everything worked out. Now he only needs to add one more touch to complete his plan and escape before everything goes up in flames. Knowing that the gas that is now filling the apartment is heavier than air it's moving from bottom to top and with the size of this apartment, he guesses that there should be about fifteen to twenty minutes before it is completely filled with gas. He returns to the kitchen to search for two items. First, he needs some duct tape and a box of wooden matches. He finds what he needs pretty quickly and returns to the entry door. Once he faces the door, he peels off three of the same lengths of duct tape.

He opens the door and rips off the striking surface of the matchbox and tapes it to the door jamb. Then he puts a small horizontal fold in it at 90⁰ to hide the rest of the striking surface. The match he has is one that has antimony (III) sulfide to make it burn more vigorously. Gauging the gap between the door and the door jamb he uses two of the smaller pieces of the duct tape and tapes the match to the door itself. He makes sure that the match is right against the striking surface and slowly closes the door as softly as he can being careful to cause no friction between match and striker.

Checking his work, he is happy with the result. He sees no security cameras except the two that are outside facing the entry door and the street. He avoided them when he entered and will do so when he leaves.

Xx

_**One hour later…**_

"Mary Anne it's Gail. Gail Kirkpatrick. I'm just back from the market with your things. Are you okay in there?"

Mrs. Kirkpatrick calls out against the closed and locked door to her friend's apartment. Hearing no answer, she trudges back down to her own apartment lugging the half-gallon of milk and a small container of orange juice for her to get her emergency key for her friend's apartment. Once she has it and has climbed back up the stairs, she thinks the smells something foul but dismisses it because the building they live in is having the hallways on the upper floors repainted.

She comes back with the key and the items Mary Anne wanted places the key into the lock, unlocks the lock in the handle and twists the doorknob. The second she pushes the door open the match that's taped to the door rubs against the striking material and causes friction. The gas that has now filled the apartment from top to bottom is ignited and the whole apartment along with Mary Anne Janowski and Gail Kirkpatrick and any evidence DNA or physical that Colin might have left behind has just been obliterated. The entire second floor is engulfed in a huge fireball.

Xx

The FDNY has already requested two more alarms in addition to Engine 33 and Tower Ladder 9 when the Battalion Chief had arrived on the scene of the fire. In the next ten minutes Engine 55 from Broome street, Engine 28 and Ladder 11 from 2nd Avenue and Ladder 20 and SOC Rebreather 1 from Lafayette Street were on scene. The fire was extinguished in close to two hours with only the loss of two entire floors the second and the third. Once the scene was secure the arson squad started their investigation.

What they found was that the supply line was disconnected from the stove in apartment 2F and a makeshift ignition system had been made by using a match, the door, and door jamb. They automatically called in the BDU to look into the cause with more specialized equipment. They would not relinquish their investigation to them but the BDU would report directly to the Arson Squad with their findings.

Xx

The second he had heard the address come through the earpiece of the phone he was holding he turned pale and clammy. He needed a minute or two to recover then he would call his best men to go to his old address.

"Smitty, Baez, and Charlie I need you in the conference room ASAP," Rick called over the intercom system that was heard all over the BDU house.

"We have a job to do for the FDNY. I need you to be focused, on point and efficient. It seems that they need a definitive answer as to why a gas main had caused damage and possibly injury to an apartment in lower Manhattan."

"Okay boss." Was said from all three men and they were grabbing their gear to head out to the truck.

Rick was pulling up his truck to the scene of the fire with two additional trucks behind him. He did his best to keep his emotions in check. He knew a lot of people here and he hoped everyone made it out in one piece. Sadly this was not to be.

"Captain Castle, I'm Deputy Fire Marshall Holloway. What I need you and your team to do is to collect all biological and physical evidence from the scene. We were only to ascertain so much and we need more to nail this sick bastard."

"Was anyone killed in this?" Rick solemnly asks.

"There were two female victims recovered." The Fire Marshall pulls out his notebook and flips through a couple of pages before he gets to the one he needs. "A Mrs. Kirkpatrick in 1C and a Ms. Janowski in 2F."

Rick turned to face his men and when he did, he saw that Smitty and Herman had let tears escape from their eyes. They too knew the women that had perished in this fire.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

_**2 hours after the explosion at Mary Anne's apartment…**_

"Smitty I want you and Baez are to run a grid search starting with the kitchen. I want you to go over every square inch of that room and report to me what you find. When you are finished with that room move outward towards the outer perimeter. Charlie, I need you to disassemble the door frame and the door and check for any possible DNA evidence that might be under the duct tape that was used to hold the match and striker material in place. I think it has been done already but I am going to review all security camera footage from her front door for the last six hours before the explosion."

"Rick listen we will go over every square inch of this apartment. But if this guy is good, he didn't leave any DNA so Charlie would be spinning his wheels. I do think that we need to take our time and thoroughly tear this place apart. Nobody is invisible at a crime scene you've taught us that. There is always something that we can find to tie someone to." Smitty says.

"Fine. But I want the door included in your sweep of that room. We might just get lucky."

The three men nod and get their gear on to go to work. About two hours later Smitty and Charlie are almost finished with the kitchen area and come to where Rick is working the living room corner where Mary Anne died in her recliner. They may have something for him and they want to confirm that it wasn't a part of Mary Ann's house.

"Rick do you have a second?" Smitty asks. Rick gets up off his knees looks Smitty in the eye. When he does, he looks over Smitty's shoulder and he sees that there is a small box that could contain legal documents and such lying on what was left of the table in the living room.

"We were going through the kitchen and in one of the utensil drawers or cupboard if you will we found this small but very heavy Honeywell fire resistant security box. I don't have the key for it but I know you are Mary Anne's key holder. Do you know if you would have a key for this box?" Charlie asks.

Rick reaches for his belt where his key chain is kept. He pulls the clasp off the holder and starts sorting through the keys that he has on his ring. He vaguely remembers Mary Anne giving him a spare key for some sort of safe box or maybe a firebox some time ago. His choices are limited to two Master keys and he knows which two keys those belong to. The last key he has looks like an Alco key that he has no idea what it fits. He walks up to the box inserts the key into the lock. He twists it to the right. The air that escapes smells a little like natural gas but it does open. The first thing he sees inside the box is a semi-automatic handgun. It looks like a Colt but he can't be sure. Since he already has his rubber gloves on, he picks up the weapon, ejects the clip and counts how many rounds are in the magazine. The holes in the side of the clip tell him that there are 7 rounds available to fire. He pulls the slide back end another round ejects from the chamber. He knew that Mary Anne had kept a weapon for her protection but didn't exactly know where.

He places the weapon on the burnt table and then digs deeper into the box. Underneath the weapon is her deed for the condo, her Social Security information, in about $15,000 in cash. But what raises his interest is the laptop that sits on the bottom of the box. He knows that the fire could probably have gotten to be around 1200 degrees. He hopes and prays that the temperature where they found the fire-resistant box didn't get that hot only because the box is rated for 1500 degrees. If he's lucky there is information that she kept on here that he can use. He lifts the laptop out of the box and sees that it's a little charred where the battery sits. That's the least of his problems he can always find a power cord just to plug into it to get it to power up.

"We'll bring this back to BDU headquarters. I'm not going to give the only lead we might be able to find in this mess over to the arson squad. I know that it's wrong but I need to find out what's on that laptop. And if I tell myself that it isn't part of their case start to believe it."

"Rick even though it's wrong, you're right. It doesn't seem right to give them something invaluable to their investigation about what happened here when we both know that this is personal."

"So why don't we finish up so we can get back to headquarters and figure out what message she was trying to leave us. I knew Mary Anne and she would never leave a laptop in a fire-resistant box. Charlie, how much more do you have to go with the bedroom?"

"The bedroom, bathroom, hallway closet, and spare room have all been gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Whoever did this only used these two rooms. They used the living room and the kitchen. I have the door and the door frame on the truck downstairs ready to be brought back to headquarters. So, once you finish up in here me and Smitty will be ready to go at about the same time."

In less than an hour Rick, Charlie, and Smitty we're heading back to BDU headquarters with the laptop.

Xx

Kate was waiting for her friend in her office. She needed to know if there was any foul play other than the way the apartment was blown up. That was her husband's job and she knew that he would not rest until he found out the truth.

"Well, Lanie?"

"Kate this is still only the preliminary report. I won't have the complete report until tomorrow."

"That's okay Lanie. What I need to know is if she was rendered incapable of being able to leave her apartment before it was blown to pieces."

Lanie flips the report open on her desk and starts to read. She sees that the victim had smoke in her lungs meaning that she was alive when the apartment blew up. Then she reads on to see that the woman who was living in the apartment was hit over the head with something hard. So hard that there were splinters of glass embedded in her skull. That evidence and the hairline fractures of the right side of her skull told her that this woman was not able to get out of her apartment under her power.

"Kate she was in all probability knocked unconscious before the apartment blew up. She had glass embedded in her skull."

"At least she didn't have to live through how she would have died. I guess that's a good thing."

"Speaking of good things Kate, what are you going to tell him?"

Kate just looks at her friend with a very confused look.

"Tell who what Lanie?"

"Rick. He will find out about this. What will you tell him when he does?"

"Lanie I need to do this. She was my friend."

"Kate while that might be true, do you remember his words to you before he married you? He told you that if he ever caught you going behind his back again that would be it. I don't think that you would want to throw away your marriage just so you can investigate something that he will be doing anyway."

"Lanie listen I need to do this. If what I find can help him then so be it. I'll deal with the consequences later."

"Girl, have you lost your mind? Why bring this trouble upon yourself when all you need to do is back off? This person was killed by a bomb well not technically a bomb but the apartment was filled with gas and it acted like one. Her downstairs neighbor also died in this and she was an innocent bystander which is what you will be if you don't stop investigating this case."

"Okay, okay. I'll slow down but I won't stop. I'll just make sure that he won't catch me doing it."

"You are about as smart as a box of rocks Kate. You do know that he will look into this and when he does, he'll see your name written all over everything. Summons requests, evidence requests, and of course you do know that he will be coming to see me. And then I am going to have to tell them everything I just told you but with him a more in-depth report."

"Lanie keep my visit between us. Don't tell him that I was here."

"God now you have me lying to him. I sure hope you know what you getting into Kate because if you don't, don't come running to me when it all falls apart."

"I'll take your advice under consideration." Kate turns and leaves the morgue and heads back up to her car in a bad mood.

Xx

Smitty had been to see Rick twice since Mary Anne's death. The first time it was official. He was bringing him Mary Anne's post autopsy report. The second time it was at her funeral. He felt for his friend and hoped that he could see a way from his sadness and turmoil. He had known Mary Anne since he became a cop, well maybe even before then.

They were both there every step of the way as well as every BDU member. The service was a closed casket service since Mary Anne wasn't presentable. They had followed her from the funeral home to the cemetery and the priest had said his prayers over her casket. It was then when Rick realized how hard this was for him. When they lowered her into the ground and he dropped a rose on top of her coffin and vowed to her that whoever did this to her would pay.

Xx

Colin took a chance on taking out the old lady. Well, old ladies. It wasn't his fault that Mrs. Kirkpatrick decided to come back and drop off her friend's supermarket purchases. But in the end, she was the one to set off the gas and inadvertently caused her death in the process. Now there are two fewer people he has to worry about finding out what his secret is.

He's been putting the final touches on his masterpiece. The Guggenheim is holding its annual fundraiser next week. This fundraiser will take place this coming Saturday night and if all goes the way he plans it not many of the 750 people who are attending will make it out alive. He's going to take his cue from Aashif Kazim. He has the place wired in so many separate locations to wreak the most havoc, death, and destruction it should be a blast… literally. Security was a joke. He posed as a pest control employee and was granted access to every area he needed to plant his explosives. No one escorted him anywhere he had free reign over the whole venue. He also knows that with this type of explosive and the locations where he places it two things will happen.

The first thing that will happen is that he will create a sense of unsureness or better yet fear in all the people attending that night. The second thing is going to happen is that people are going to be going in every direction trying to get to safety and that will be their demise. That's when he will put the second part of his plan into effect. Knowing that they think they'll be safe if they exit the building there will be a mass exodus. But the reality is that this is where the rest of them will die. They will be so close to the exit but they can't get out. As he studies the floor plans of the Guggenheim, he sees that there will be a general meeting place for the fundraiser to take place. There is also an open bar area where he figures a majority of the people will be migrating towards before the dinner. He will let everyone get seated for dinner before he puts the plan into effect.

First, he will give the illusion that there is a small fire by placing canisters of smoke grenades under the unused portion of the second bar near the back of the dining area. It will start slowly and burn rather fast. When they react to that they will be seeing the many 9-1-1 calls will flood the call center and people trying to escape the fear that a fire might get the feeling that they will burn. If he plans their human nature correctly, they should all start to congregate in the main dining room. But just in case he'll have a very small amount of explosive in the first bar out in the lobby. Once that detonates the bomb at the bar the second explosion will happen almost instantaneously. The floor is wired in a star pattern on the concrete underneath with Semtex and wireless blasting caps to detonate the Semtex. This will take out the floor underneath their feet and send them directly into the basement forty feet down. The few lucky ones who are not in the initial kill zone will be running for the doorways. The Guggenheim has one main exit on 5th Avenue and four exits on the Northside of the building with an additional loading dock entrance on East 89th Street. The Southside has six doors on that side of the building leading out to the sidewalk on East 90th Street.

Each entry point is wired with C-4. And the second the door is pushed open by the panic bar it will complete the circuit and detonate the C-4 around that door. Each door is wired separately and it's going to be in like a big game to watch them try to leave. Will they push the bar at the first door they see making it explode or will they be cautious and try to leave through another means. He rubs his hands in anticipation.

Everything's in place for the party on Saturday night. All he has to do is wait for twelve hours to go by he will be in position across the street sitting on a park bench watching it all unfold.

Xx

"Mom you need to tell him what you're doing before this goes any further. Aunt Lanie is right. Her assumption of what dad will do will be worse than you can imagine, he will leave you."

"Alexis, baby, she was our friend, she meant so much to us and I am being careful."

"You know that I love you but do you realize that dad almost lost both of us the last time something like this happened?"

"What do you want me to do here Alexis? There is no happy medium and I know that. But I think I've done a better job keeping this a secret this time than I did last time when we were trying to figure out who is trying to kill him. I promise this will be done before you know it."

"Mom you just don't get it do you. It doesn't matter if you stop now or keep going with this because if you do and he does find out I can't imagine how hurt he will be. He will climb right back into his shell again like he was before you met him. You weren't there then you don't know what it was like. He was like a machine all he did was work sleep and eat. Yes, he did make sure I was taken care of but other than that he had no way of keeping himself sane. You were the one who saved him from that."

Kate found her feet very interesting right about now. She knew that if she looked up now it would all be over because if she knew her daughter, she would be giving her the saddest face with puppy dog eyes she had never seen before in her life. But she needs to look her in the eye to tell her what she needed to tell her.

"Baby listen this is important. If I don't get him the information that he needs to prosecute or even find out who was doing this we are all going to die. There's just something that I feel that's wrong. I don't want you or the twins losing your lives over something that I could have prevented."

"What about you mom?"

What about me?"

"What if you find out something or you find someone who is doing this and they decide to make an example of you. I can't lose another mother as I did before. Please don't do this."

"It will be fine Alexis. I'll get what I need to do done and show everything to your father."

She can't believe her mother can be this pigheaded. She gets up from the couch she was sitting on walks over to her room and closes the door without another word to her mother. Before she lies down on her bed, she looks in on her sleeping babies. She can see that it's wrong but she just hopes that her mother will drop everything and do the right thing.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

They say timing is everything. And in his case, it really is. He had made one more check of his explosives at the Guggenheim earlier in the day to make sure that no one had tampered with the blasting caps that were embedded in the Semtex under the dining floor and the surprise at each exit door. No one had.

He had time to pick up a quick burger and a coke from a burger joint not far from 90th Street. By the time he returned to the park bench across from his target there were already limousines pulling up to the entrance on 5th Ave.

The people dressed in their fancy tuxedos and elegant ball gowns would be regretting their choice in clothing when his masterpiece finally detonated. He eats his burger and sips on his coke as he watches as the body count only increases with every limo that arrives and departs. He has the wireless trigger in his coat pocket and that will start the first part of his plan. He'll wait until the event gets going but when it does watch out.

He is stunned to see that Tobias Michael de Chazal Astor pulls up in a stretch limo and gets out with his wife. He never thought that a man of his caliber would be at an event like this. He knows New York society then this man is 17th in line to take over the Astor family fortune. Maybe after they find him dead, they will listen to reason when he makes his demands. Now he wonders how many other high society New Yorkers will be attending tonight. He checks his watch one last time and decides that now is the time to set his plan in motion.

_**Two hours later…**_

Knowing that most people would start to panic at the sight of smoke from a possible fire, he depresses the button to activate the three smoke canisters that are hidden under the second unused bar in the lobby and waits. What happens next is what he had predicted. The people see the smoke but are not that shocked by seeing it and go on about their business. They would risk their lives rather than give up the cost per plate that they donated for the evening. If fear is what they want then that's what they'll get.

The trigger is activated and the bar in the dining room explodes in a massive fireball. The amount of the 8 ounces of C-4 he had hidden earlier turns four patrons and the bartender into human pincushions with the amount of shrapnel that is in their path. Their deaths are instantaneous. The bar itself becomes a weapon of sorts with the force of the explosion sent the bottles that were on the bar flying outward and have become makeshift missiles and they take a trajectory that sends them flying out into the dining room. They randomly hit people and in turn, kill them as well with direct hits to their skulls and other parts of their bodies.

When he depressed the trigger for the bomb under the dining area 30 seconds later after that chaos had started the floor falls out from under their feet. The star pattern he had put underneath the concrete in the basement against the main floor worked like a charm. The floor fell out from under them taking down 32 tables with it. At each table were 14 couples 28 men and women and not one of them would see the dawn of the next day.

The remaining few diners who had the luck to escape the second blast with only minor burns and lived knew that they needed to get outside and away from this carnage.

One of the servers was the first to lose her life. She and three others went for one of the doors that led out to East 89th street and the second the panic bar was depressed the circuit was completed and the C-4 blew the door and anyone trying to leave back towards the gaping hole that was once the dining room.

Heads turned to see what in the world was going on. The rest of the men and women who were thinking about leaving stopped when they saw the exit door blow up and take four people with it. Not knowing what was to happen next many of the people shouted to the lone man standing about twenty feet from one of the exit doors leading out to 90th street. They all screamed at him not to open the door but it was too late. He had a running start for the door and the other patrons followed closely to what they thought led to safety or so they thought. The second he pushed the panic bar the same fate faced him and the people behind him as what happened to the other people trying to exit onto 89th street. The C-4 detonated and threw them back into the gaping hole that led directly to the basement. Three of them snapped their necks when they landed in the basement, two ended up impaled on rebar from the concrete that lies below and the man who is later found out to be a busboy ended up plastered all over the ceiling of the Guggenheim.

Colin is happy with the way everything he has planned has basically come full circle. He estimates about 450 to 600 people have lost their lives at his hand and that is a good day for him. Maybe now the bastard will find out what it means to lose people. He gets up off the park bench and starts walking towards the subway station that's just South of him on 5th ave. As he does he deposits his dinner trash into a city garbage can. He will leave the rest of the unexploded ordinance to the BDU team that he knows will be showing up soon.

Xx

The call comes in and they scramble to get everything they need together to respond to the Guggenheim. Not knowing what they could be facing they take just about everything with them just in case.

Rick is out in his new Chevy Silverado BDU crew cab with the engine running anxiously waiting for Smitty to get in the truck. As he sees him come out of the BDU headquarters, he's got his hands full with just about everything he could imagine to take with him to the scene. He opened the back door of his crew cab and throws his stuff in and quickly gets in the passenger side of the truck. The second the door slams shut Rick has the car truck in drive and then speeding off to the Guggenheim.

"Central from BDU-1 over."

"This is central go BDU-1"

"Sit rep please."

"Multiple military-grade Semtex and C-4 detonations at the Guggenheim. People trying to leave through exit doors were blown back by explosions. Loss of life in the hundreds. EMS and FDNY responding ETA 4 minutes. Your status?"

"Myself and Lieutenant Smith are en route. Do not, I repeat do not let FDNY approach the scene or enter the building. If there is evidence of fire then they fight it from the street. All other BDU staff are en route with specialized equipment their ETA is about 11 minutes."

"Central acknowledges good luck, sir."

"I just hope that we're not too late."

"Me too Smitty, me too."

The rest of the ride is spent in silence. Rick does his best to dodge midtown traffic and gets to the scene in less than his original ETA. The minute he pulls up to the Guggenheim on 5th avenue he already sees the damage from the truck.

"Smitty our truck will be the command post. I need you to gear up and give me a report on what we are facing."

"On it Rick," Smitty says as he gets out of the truck and opens the rear door to retrieve his turnout gear.

While Smitty was checking out the perimeter Rick knew that people had died just by opening the doors. He was glad that the Department had worked out a deal with the Department of Defense for advanced bomb suits. This is what he is getting into now. The new suit compared to the old suit is so much better. Lightweight, better-placed armor, a helmet that could withstand debris hitting it at 633 feet per second. It also had shielded communications, an air circulation system, and an anti-fog face shield. The outer material is constructed from flame-retardant Nomex/Kevlar mix which protects him against burns. The suit itself was compared to walking in what amounted to be in old fashion suit of armor. He just didn't want to test it out right away. Once he suited up Smitty returned and gives him his complete inspection report of the Guggenheim.

"Rick there are about 168 people still alive inside the building huddled together in the southeast corner. Even though the FDNY is standing by there is no fire. There is however a huge 85-foot hole blown out of the floor in the center of the room. Everyone who was in its path is now lying dead or severely injured in the basement. The fall was about 50 feet."

"Smitty I'm going to need to inspect the doors or explosive material. When Dave and Herman get here, I want you to suit up and work the 89th St side by dismantling any C-4 or Semtex that you see blocking the doors. Then and only then will the remaining people be transported out of the building. I don't want anything setting off the remaining C-4. When Dave and Herman get here, they will monitor communications from out here."

"When do you want to start?"

"Right now. Until they get here you and I will start on 90th street. You man the radio and I will be talking to you."

"10-4"

Rick walks awkwardly towards the first exit door on 90th street. He is holding his helmet to his side so he can get a good look at what he could be facing. As he looks closer at the first door, he sees that there is no C-4 on the outside frame. Then he sees the door that they attempted to leave from to his left and moves to that door. The frame was blown outward but the door itself blew back into the building. Knowing that there is no threat of anything happening he puts on his helmet and enters through the very large hole in the side of the building where the door once stood.

There is a slight gasp when he enters from the people that are in the corner of the building. He waves to them and sets to work. the C-4 is still wrapped around the frame of the door and there are wireless blasting caps pushed into the C-4.

"Smitty I need you to enable the signal blocker. Give me a two-block radius. There are wireless caps here and I don't want to accidentally go boom if someone uses a 2-way device."

"You got it, boss. Give me a sec and don't touch anything."

Rick waits until he has a green light and when Smitty radios him back telling him that it's clear Rick pulls the blasting caps free of the C-4. He traces the leads back to the push bar and uses an Allen wrench to disassemble the panic bar for the door. Once he has it apart, he can see that anyone who would push the bar would activate the microswitch at the right side of the bar and detonate the C-4. He assumes that whoever wired this door up was smart. Almost disciplined. If the people did not evacuate the exits and huddle in the southeast corner, they would have all died. The door was wired to blow two ways. If they simply stood there waiting for someone to rescue them without pushing the panic bar, whoever set this up could have taken out the people and the first responders just by using a cell phone to activate the wireless blasting caps.

"Smitty is Herman and Dave here yet?"

"They are. I'm almost done suiting up."

"When you are there remove all the wireless blasting caps before you do anything else. The panic bars on all the doors are wired. So be careful when you disable the microswitch."

"Got it, boss, I'm heading over now."

It takes about 4 hours but between Smitty and Rick until they both get the building secure and all the C-4 safely packed away. The FDNY and EMT's that are on the scene quickly remove the remaining guests who are still alive. The total count is 171 people surviving the blast. Now comes the hard part. The M.E.'s office has requested every available medical examiner from all the boroughs to respond to the Guggenheim. NYPD & FDNY have been placing bodies in body bags in the basement for transport. They decided to keep the bodies in the basement that did not live through the event in a commercial cooler until they could be properly autopsied. In all of the 576 that perished that night only three survivors were pulled from the basement. Two were critical and one had been paralyzed from the waist down.

The BDU and FDNY were given commendations for the tireless work they did on that day by the mayor. But Rick never showed up for the award ceremony. He was busy trying to find out who was doing this because whoever it was was not finished killing innocent people, he knew that much.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

_**Two weeks have passed since the Guggenheim tragedy…**_

Rick said there sat at his desk at BDU headquarters. On his desk sat Mary Anne's computer. He knew it was password protected and wondered what the password could be. He hadn't given much thought to Mary Anne's laptop since the bombing at the Guggenheim two weeks ago. There was just too much to be done and time had slipped away from him. He closes his eyes and thinks back to two weeks ago….

The Guggenheim was officially a crime scene and was treated as such. The first of the bodies that were in the refrigerated storage facility we're being autopsied today. The medical examiners from 5 boroughs who were called in to do all the autopsies were running themselves ragged. On average they would conduct about 5 autopsies in 8 hours each. Each medical examiner has found traces of Semtex and C-4. That was to be expected but what they didn't expect were the injuries in the way in which these people died.

Most of the victims had all died from the fall into the basement. Of course, there were the victims who were sitting at the point of detonation who had simply evaporated from existence due to the heat and concussion of the explosive. Those autopsies were the hardest to complete since there was not enough of that person's body to recover for a complete autopsy.

The victims that they were able to recover who were mostly in the basement died in a manner of what could have been a violent car wreck. The exact measurement from the dining floor to the basement was 52.3 feet. With the way the floor had fallen in on itself and landed in the basement, this caused most of the people to be crushed by chunks of concrete falling on them. The medical examiners worked tediously to complete the autopsies in a timely fashion. Once they were complete the families were able to claim their bodies for proper burial.

Of course, there were going to be lawsuits against the Guggenheim and whoever was responsible if they were ever caught but the one that stood out the most was the Astor lawsuit. Tobias Michael de Chazal Astor's estate had filed a lawsuit against the Guggenheim, the city of New York, and anyone else they could think of to the tune of one billion dollars. The only reason the amount was so high was that he was an Astor. He and his wife had died on that night and they along with many other couples were never recovered. Their DNA was found at the scene but only fragments of their bodies were ever collected.

Rick was sure that he was going to be called in to testify about what he had found night. Another thing to look forward too he thought to himself. He slowly opens his eyes and looks down at the laptop. It's an older HP but she kept it in great shape. He flips open the top of the laptop and to his surprise, the laptop starts to power up.

Once the welcome screen shows up it prompts him to put in a password. He has no clue as to what it could be. He thinks back to when he first met Mary Anne and he has a thought. He quickly types in his daughter's name in this little box and hits enter. A message comes up that tells him the password he had entered is wrong and to try again. He rests his head on both of his hands looking at the screen. He sees that her background picture is a custom picture from her picture files and not the generic HP graphic picture. He studies the picture and notices that it's of mage of Mizzen Head in County Cork, Ireland.

After studying the picture for 5 minutes he types in Mizzen Head in the password box. The second he hits enter he is presented with the same message he had earlier. The password he tried was wrong again. He looks again at the picture once more and spends more time hoping that the password lies somewhere in this picture. After 15 minutes of studying the picture, he has one password try left before the computer locks up on him. He types in Rock Cliff and hits enter. The second he does the screen turns black and now he thinks to himself that he'll never get into her computer now because this was his third strike.

He was about to close the lid to the laptop when the computer comes alive once again with all her icons showing on the home screen. He can't believe that he guessed the right password. He knows that she left him something because the laptop was in the firebox and she never kept it there so he uses the mouse pad in the middle of the computer to navigate her web browser history.

What he sees from her history shocks him. She had been to a people-finder website based in Ireland. That in itself is a clue that he cannot dismiss. He pulls up the website but unfortunately, he can't search what she was looking for in the browser because it deleted anything that she was searching for. It only brings up an empty box. He minimizes the browser and her home screen is in plain view. He studies her home page and sees an icon with the initials R.C. underneath the folder. Curious, he clicks the icon and the document opens. His eyes dart across each sentence trying to find out what she was up to.

_Rick,_

_If you're reading this then I must have left this world in a way that was not to my liking. I'm a tough old broad and I bet you I could have lived to be at least 100 years old if I never meddled. I have some information enclosed in this document that I will be giving you. You're not going to like it either. When Colin Sr. came to the United States not long after you did, he had met a woman in Ireland before he left for the states and had a very brief relationship with her. And by brief, I mean a one-night stand. That relationship produced a child. What I fear now is that he is now taking over where his father had left off all those years ago._

_I knew of this woman and even met her long, long ago. She was friends with one of my friends and that's how we were introduced. I swear to you I have only met her that one time and have never again had any contact with her until I thought of her now. She lives in Belfast in a blue-collar neighborhood. I talked to my friend recently and she gave me some information on how I could find her and her son. I was able to find out that her son's name was the same as her father's. His name is Colin as well. I have no idea where he is now or what he's up to but in the back of my mind, I think he's going to be coming after you and your family._

_I had told Kate some of what I'm telling you now. I'm not sure what she would do with the information but just know that she has it and is going to give it to you if you never find this document. She had come over asking about your past and at first, I didn't put two plus two together. But after we spoke for about half an hour over tea she kept asking about any enemies in your past and if I knew anyone who would want to kill you. I knew that you and she had put an end to Colin's father years ago. But once she mentioned this as an afterthought that he might have a son I immediately thought that she might be onto something and I became worried. I dismissed her politely and got to work. After searching for her name, I came up with three possible matches. One woman was in her 80's and too old, the second woman had five children, but it's the third woman a Niamh Huston who was a perfect match._

_I have lived a full and productive life, Rick, there is not much that I have not done during it. My only regret is that I never had any children of my own but if you think about it I did. I had Alexis, Alex, and the twins. They are what kept me alive and so vibrant. I never told Kate what I am telling you now so please go easy on her and listen to what she has to tell you. Keep yourself safe when you go after Colin, I think that he can and will give you a run for your money._

_Love always,_

_Mary Anne_

Rick having read the letter two times already was surprised to see that the keyboard of the laptop was wet with the tears that fell on to it from his eyes. But what upset him was the fact that his wife who had promised him that she would never investigate anything behind his back again had done exactly just that. He could have been understanding and had forgiven her if she had come to him with what she had found but she never did. And now he wonders who else knows about Colin's son. The last time he had caught her looking into his past his daughter had somehow infused herself into the investigation that she was running behind his back. There is more at stake now then a lot more. It seems that he is now faced with a war of two fronts he just hopes that he has the strength to get through each of them. He opens the attachment to her letter and sees that she was right. Colin had a son and he is about twenty-six by now. God how could he ever overlooked this. He forwards a copy of what Mary Anne found along with her letter to his email address so he can research it at home.

Xx

He had read every newspaper headline that involved the incident at the Guggenheim. He had also read just about every post from every social media website. He was a little agitated when he started to read posts on Facebook that were calling him a coward. Well, they were not calling him a coward directly they were calling the person responsible for the loss of life that night a coward. Good, he thought of the posts but he got what he wanted.

What he wanted was the response time for the BDU unit. They were a bit predictable but their response time was adequate. What he was surprised by was the judgment that they used when they approached the exit doors lined with his C-4. They had two teams checking out the doors. The bastard was on one side of the building and his best friend on the other. They had done everything by the book. The only step that he noticed that they didn't follow was the fact that each team had kept the wireless blasting caps from the C-4. He did not know why both teams did this. It wasn't as if he had left any evidence on the caps for them to find so why did they want to keep them as evidence?

He'd gathered enough information from them to put the plan in play that would get vengeance for his father's death. This would be his last hurrah and his biggest. He would take out the bastard and his team. He hoped that along with the BDU team he would be able to cause as much death as the plan could provide. But for now, it was time to retreat to his small apartment in Brooklyn and start planning his next bombing.

Xx

Kate needed to tell Rick what she was into before he found out. Lanie was right about telling him but she just didn't know how to break it to him without losing him. He was unwavering in his promise to leave her if she ever did any investigating behind his back and this is what she fears will happen. He will leave her. And that's something that she can't live with if he did. If she only were not so tenacious, she would not be trying to figure out how to tell him what she'd been doing.

"Penny for your thoughts mom," Alexis said bringing Kate out of her reverie.

"I'm trying to think of a way to tell your father why I've been looking into his past."

"Did you find anything?"

"I did. What I found will be hard for him to deal with and it's going to push him into going full tilt. Alexis, I can't let that happen."

"Don't you think that this is his choice? You always told me that no one can make an informed decision without all the information they need to make it with. You need to tell him and whatever the consequences are you'll have to deal with what he decides. You know that I'm in your corner right mom?"

"I do. I hate to do this to you but could you watch your sisters again for me when your father gets home so I can tell him?"

"Sure mom. Robert and Kyle are asleep so it won't be a problem until they wake up."

Kate decided that she would tell him and she sat down on the loveseat keeping her eye on the front door of the loft waiting for him to come home…

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Rick had just finished his own search into Colin's history and Mary Anne was right. His childhood friend did father a son. The description of Colin junior was prevalent in Belfast. After an extensive web search, Rick found out that he was a straight-A student and that he held jobs after school working at stores close by his home to help support his mother and their household. But this was all useless because it was long ago and people did change. He would need a description of him so he could put out a BOLO on him but he had no clue as to what he looked like. If he was anything like his father he had a good idea of what he might look like but he needed an image. He would have the sketch artist come to BDU headquarters later to draw up a sketch. But what really concerns him is that he was a straight-A student. There was more there he just knew it. Maybe he excelled in electronics or even electrical engineering he didn't know what he did but whatever it was it was going to be bad.

But now he had decided to figure out how he was going to confront his wife about what she had done. She had done the one thing he had told her he could not tolerate after he caught her the first time. It wasn't an ultimatum on his part but it was just that he wanted to keep her safe and by not investigating any of his cases she would be just that... safe. So, for now, he would just go home back to the loft and deal with it when he got there.

Xx

Kate who had fallen asleep in the loveseat facing the front door of the loft waiting for her husband to come home woke with a start when she heard the door squeak open. Her eyes automatically went to her husband and she could tell that he wasn't happy.

"Hi, babe."

Rick looked at his wife and could tell she knew something was wrong. He sucked at communicating especially when he needed it the most but he needed to be the adult here so he didn't say anything to her, hung up his coat, and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water. He thought she would follow him into the kitchen and he waited in the kitchen for a couple of seconds but when he came back out and looked in the living room she was still sitting on the loveseat. He walked out with his bottle of water and sat down across from her in the matching loveseat looking straight at her. It was now or never.

"So is there something you want to tell me, Kate?"

She should have known that he would find out what she had done. But now she had to come clean because if she didn't do it now it would only make matters worse later. And that, she couldn't live with.

"There are a couple of things I could stand to get off my chest before we do that I want to know if you might consider forgiving me before we start?"

He tried not to get angry at her but he couldn't help it.

"Kate, I was serious when I told you I didn't want you looking into things behind my back for two reasons. The first reason is if I lost you I wouldn't know how to live without you. Losing you would be like losing my soul again. I already lost one woman I loved. I don't want a repeat of that. The second reason is that it's my job to keep _you_ safe and if you go around behind my back trying to find out how to solve a case that I'm working on and it puts you in a position where I can't protect you, then what's the use?"

"Rick, I'm a detective with the NYPD I know how to look out for myself. I've been trained by the best in the department, I know you feel like you need to be my protector at every turn but I can really handle myself and I wouldn't let any case get to the point where I would purposely leave you by dying." Deciding to continue she pushes on.

"But I did look into something that I think is involved with the bombing at the Guggenheim and Smitty's car bomb that never went off. I went to see Mary Anne before she died and she told me that she didn't know anyone who might be after you. In my mind, it seems to me that she was keeping something from me. She and I were talking about who could have done what might have happened and she must have thought about something that could have been a possibility. But she never told me about it she just shooed me out of her apartment quickly and I came back home. I did, however, go to Lanie and see what she knew about Mary Ann's autopsy the next day."

Rick sat there thinking about what she just told him. And in all honesty, she really didn't do that much investigating. She only went to see her friend the medical examiner about her other friend who recently passed away. And while she might have found out how she died she really didn't go behind his back. It was part of her job description to investigate homicides even if this wasn't in her jurisdiction.

"Kate, I understand your motives and I know it's in your nature to investigate a crime. But I'm willing to let this one slide only because Mary Ann was our friend. And I know you won't do it again, will you?

Kate was already shaking her head no knowing that he had forgiven her for what she had done she was beyond happy. Now maybe they can work on this together if they're doing it side-by-side with each one telling the other what they have found out. She doesn't want to push the issue but she needs to know if he will allow it.

"Rick listen I need to know if we can do this together. We're both cops and we both need to get results and answers. If we do work on this together we will be rewarded with catching the bad guy before he can do anything else to hurt people. And if I can keep you alive in the process then it's a win-win situation."

"On one condition Kate, and that is that we share everything. When we're not together and you find something out you better be calling me."

"The same goes for you too babe if you find out anything I want to know about it because that could be the key to the puzzle that we need to solve.

Xx

His last bombing so to speak would be serving two purposes. First, as usual, he would take out as many lives as he could in the process of trying to kill the bastard. And the second would be that he would be luring him to his death. It was a simple plan but one that would probably bring the city to their knees. His attack would be multi-pronged and aimed at the transportation network. New York City is connected by four bridges from New Jersey. The George Washington Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge, the Outerbridge Crossing, and the Staten Island Bridge. There are also two tunnels that connect Manhattan with New Jersey the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. In addition to those crossings, there were many rail crossings that were to be included in his plan. But the most important one was the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge. This bridge provided New York with goods of all varieties from the Elizabeth Seaport to the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island and from there it was transported by truck all over the city. What he plans on doing is bringing the city to its knees. Without transportation into the city, common things will evaporate quickly like food, fuel, and other necessities that people need to survive with including medicine and other life-saving items.

The plan is a simple one but it's the execution that will be the hardest part of making this work. Knowing that he needs to keep the bastard in the city he will be taking out the bridges and tunnels first. Then he will concentrate on the major hubs. The airports are out only because he can't get enough explosives out there and they are too heavily guarded or they would have been reduced to rubble as well. The city's rail system or the MTA is also too vast and would take longer than a year to plan something that big that would cripple the city.

His plan includes Penn Station, the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, and the Port Authority bus terminal in Midtown. He would use Penn Station to lure the bastard to his death. If he plans this right his team will be spread too thin to assist him.

He studied the security shifts that guard the Hudson River crossings and found that there are many gaps in the way they protect it. He was surprised to find out that the tunnels and bridge were guarded by heavily armed police officers right after 9/11 but now there were security guards in place who didn't really do their job to the fullest. He watched as they just drove around in a circle and did a minimal job at best just to get through an 8-hour shift.

The first facility he would destroy would be the George Washington Bridge. What he would do is plant charges on the New Jersey tower close to the roadway and the New York tower at the same location and one major bomb mid-span having each tower collapsed in on itself once the mid-span broke apart. The Lincoln Holland tunnels were easy. He wouldn't need much C4 in order to do the most damage to either tunnel. Both the Lincoln and Holland tunnels are vehicular tunnels that are within a concrete tunnel. When the hole was bored for the tunnel, circular forms were put in place, concrete was poured in the forms, cured, and then inspected and approved by workers. The concrete prevented the mud and the river from falling in on the workers. The roadway takes up about 70% of the concrete tube. When the length of the concrete was completed from New Jersey to New York the two-lane roadway was installed.

It wouldn't take but only fifteen pounds of C4 to blow through the concrete encasement and the river will do the rest. Again the police that used to patrol the tunnels have given up that job to security guards. And they were unarmed. He planted the C-4 at each tower and midspan with no problems and it was a little scary because he had never climbed anything in his life before. But the fact that he was scaling the main tower that held the bridge up with only a rope keeping him from falling to his death made him feel like he was invincible. When he was finished he lowered himself down to the base of the New Jersey tower where he had removed his harness and stowed it in the backpack he left there earlier. Once he finished he walked away from Ross Dock and headed South out of the park and to the highway to catch a cab to Weehawken.

The Lincoln tunnel vent building in New Jersey was lacking any security whatsoever. He waltzed into the building and pushed the call button for the older than dirt elevator. When it arrived he waited as the door closed and it shuttled him deep into the lower section of the tunnel. Accessing the upper exhaust duct was relatively easy. There was an access door from the vent building to the top of the roadway. Nothing stopped him from getting in here and walking the half-mile to the mid-river sump room. Knowing that the first explosion at the GWB was on a timer all he needed to do was to set this timer 15 minutes later. This would give him enough time for the police to respond to his first strike and then the second strike would happen. Then the Holland tunnel would be the last strike 15 minutes after the Lincoln. He would stop all traffic from entering the city.

The PABT sits with 8th ave in the east, 9th on the west and between 40th & 42nd streets to the north and south. With the tunnel now flooded, the bus terminal will become a hole in the ground. It would cease most of Manhattan's public transportation. There will be a heavy response from those who remain alive but he thinks that this number will be very low due to the explosion.

With the transportation hubs now in shambles, he will concentrate on the three last targets. The Staten Island ferry terminal and the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge. These would get his attention but not as severe as the initial targets. He had a surprise for his enemy. He was known as a person who planted bombs to get results for his actions but he did have an ace up his sleeve. His course correction would change the game drastically. He would have of course use the explosive to get what he wanted. He was a person who loved the intricacies of learning and finding out new things. But then again he always paid attention when he was in school. The school he took classes in was not offered to the public.

There were many times he thought about what he was going to do and blowing Rick Castle to smithereens was never once in his thoughts he would die at his hand but in a very personal way. He had trained with the best and they, in turn, had taught him just about everything he needed to know, for a price. He had paid dearly for his chance at taking out his father's murderer and it was worth every penny. His life would come to an abrupt and final end.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Knowing what to look for is half the battle...

_**"To all commands and precincts, the threat of terroristic activity is high. Keep aware of possible offensive activity in or around major transportation hubs. Actor/actors are unknown at this time. That is all."**_

Rick sits at his desk rereading the latest broadcast that had just been faxed over to the BDU command. He lets the paper fall out of his hands and watches as it lands on his desk. He needs only one clue to find out who is behind this. Actually he has a pretty good idea who is behind it but he has no idea where or when he will strike again and it's got him running around in circles. So far he's sent Smitty, Dave, and Herman to 8 false alarms in Manhattan alone. If it wasn't for the fact that there was nothing going on he would have thought that this would have been routine. But as it turns out the new bulletin he just got from 1PP negates that. Now they have to take every call as they get them with the utmost caution. No matter where or when they are called to.

Retirement is looking better and better each day.

Xx

Kate knows that something is going on but ever since she was promoted to captain she has had little time to do anything about it. Esposito was promoted to Sergeant and Ryan made Lieutenant both about the same time.

Ever since becoming Captain and before she went out on maternity leave she wondered if these two would ever leave the12th precinct. As it is right now they are both staying put and have different responsibilities now. On her first week back she realized that even though he was only a lieutenant, Ryan had stepped up and did most of the tedious work that a captain has to deal with on a daily basis, paperwork and taking care of robbery and vice. Esposito, on the other hand, had taken over the homicide squad and delegated the incoming cases to three different teams because that's where it all started for him since transferring in from the 54th years ago.

What she had to worry about right now was her daughter. She was taking care of four children all by herself. This is not what she wanted. What she wanted was to have more time to deal with everything including the idiot trying to take out her husband. And it seemed that she won't be able to get the chance to do that either because time has escaped her. And there is still someone out there trying to kill her husband and they actually might succeed.

"Cap, you okay?" Espo asks drawing her back to the present.

"I'm fine Espo. so give me an update on what your team is working on."

"Well for once I'm glad to say that this recent case was your basic pop-and-drop. Jack shot Jill because she was having an affair with his best friend. We should have the case files on your desk for the district attorney by the end of the day today."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Not really we're in the midst of working up a profile on one of our suspects in the second case other than that we're pretty much dead in the water until we get a lead or two."

"Keep working on it and keep me apprised. Have you seen Ryan today?"

"I think he is down at Central Booking. He had to pick up paperwork and drop off some as well. He should be back soon he left about 2 hours ago."

"Have him see me when he gets back."

"Kate is everything okay? You seem out of sorts lately and it's not just today you've been this way for the past couple of weeks."

"It's nothing Javi. Don't you have some work to do?"

Esposito raised an eyebrow at her comment then turned and left her office without another word. He knew something was up but he just didn't know what.

Xx

She knew he was only trying to help but she can't get any more people involved in this thing because if she does they'll only end up dead. But she knew that they worked together better as a team. Maybe she could ask Rick if it was possible to let them in on what was going on.

Xx

Knowing when to scram is the key to what he does. But he'll never do that now. His prey will pay. His hide at Penn Station is virtually invisible to the public eye. His preparation for what will be the end of Richard Castle is paramount. He has thought of every small detail. He has already killed the maintenance employee who was refurbishing the ceiling at Penn Station for his company. His ID was hard to match but with a slight adjustment with the picture, he simply inserted his picture into the ID card over his victim's and printed a completely new one sealing it together in plastic. Now he was James Young. Two days later he had taken to the scaffolding wondering if anyone would question him when he was seen climbing up it and decided to risk it. He climbed to the top of the tarped off area and hid there so not to be seen. From there it was just a matter of setting up his .50 caliber M107 semi-automatic long-range sniper rifle. He has waited until after the terminal had quieted down in foot traffic and he had his guitar case strapped around his back. Of course, it really wasn't a guitar case per se but his weapon was in three convenient pieces inside of the guitar case. He had five rounds of .50 caliber ammo but he only needed one to take out his target. Knowing now that the maintenance man is not working and will never be coming back to work because he was dead in his apartment, he was able to set up his distance flags and other markers on top of the scaffolding. He knew that the maintenance worker's boss had just checked in with him the other day and wasn't due for another report until the beginning of next week. This left him with plenty of time to set things up the right way.

He had decided that there was no way better than using his own family against him. He needed to work out that part but with a little planning, he would have what he wanted. He needed to because his time in this country would be coming to a close very soon.

Xx

Stalking her had been the easy part. The bastard's daughter was often watching her own kids and his as well. Getting her to leave them only for a minute or two would be the hard part. He knew that she rebounded a little after losing her husband and he would use that to his advantage. No one could completely become that forgiving after losing a loved one. It will take some time but he will come up with a plan to separate her from her children and the bastards children as well. In the meantime, he'll head back to his apartment in Brooklyn and decide what his next move will be.

Xx

Rick knows that the mayor and the police commissioner need his unit to function as a team. But recently as of yesterday, the commissioner was very disappointed by what they witnessed secondhand at a recent crime scene. The unprofessionalism by his team displayed at a by the book bomb scene was totally uncalled for. The amount of shame he felt was nothing compared to what his boss must have felt.

"Rick, I don't want to hear another word about this. Those men are now suspended without pay until a full investigation has been concluded." The commissioner demanded. "As of now, I'm seriously considering disbanding the BDU and starting from scratch with new personnel."

"Sir, that would be a grave mistake. We have a brotherhood here. We can still get the job done!"

"Rick what has happened here is that your team has become soft, you might have camaraderie within your ranks, but they all need a refresher course on policy and procedure including yourself. Now, this is all I'm going to say on the matter. But be ready for a shakeup here because I am going to enforce the recommendations that the council suggests."

The commissioner turns and heads back to his black Ford Excursion with his security team leading the way.

Xx

It was stupid once he had the time to think about it. Kang, Dave, and Smitty had not followed procedure when they were at a scene that involved a suspicious package. They had responded to a scene and decided to forgo the usual scan of the package. If they had they would have found that while the package was dangerous, it was an unstable compound and unpredictable as to how it would react if it was transported haphazardly. They had not secured the package in the bomb tube as per the regulations. The bomb tube is constructed using plate steel ⅝ of an inch thick and when it detonated the tube could not handle the concussion and in the process took out a family of four traveling on Interstate 278 and also a semi heading in the other direction. But what made matters worse was the fact that instead of giving aid to the injured, the three BDU members were having an all-out heated argument as to who was to blame for the incident. People had recorded the incident with their cell phones and it showed the NYPD's lack of professionalism. It was posted on just about every social media outlet known to man. This is why the commissioner wants to restructure the BDU and Rick bets that he won't need to worry about when he will retire because the gods at 1PP will tell him to do so in the restructuring that's coming. He just feels bad for the remaining members who no doubt will feel the heat from the fallout.

Xx

Kate gets home from another grueling day at the 12th. Rick is not home but her daughter is. She is assaulted by a flurry of red hair as she gets bombarded by her daughter pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry mom. I hope you are okay." Alexis says a bit muffled because her head is buried in Kates shirt.

She has no idea what she is talking about. Maybe something to do with the children? She has no idea.

"Alexis what should I be okay about?" Kate asks as she moves them to the couch.

"Wait you didn't hear about it?"

"About what honey?"

"Dad. It's all over social media. Smitty, Kang, and Dave were involved in an incident while transporting a live bomb earlier this morning."

"I didn't hear anything about it. It's on the net?"

"It is."

Kate and Alexis move to the roll-up desk where Kate keeps her laptop and signs into her Instagram account and sees the feed from the incident on Interstate 278. It's bad, very bad and she wonders how her husband is dealing with all this. Then it hits her… 1PP already knows about this and is acting swiftly. God all this to deal with plus some guy is trying to kill him. What will happen next?

TBC

**A/N:** **I am hoping that this came out to everyone's satisfaction. It was kicking my ass and had to be rewritten many times before I got it to make any sense. Current situations around the country have made me rethink the next chapter so that might be delayed as well. I do apologize in advance.**

**I hope that everyone is still able to work and pay the bills. Many people are not and my heart goes out to them. Be safe and stay healthy!**


	18. Chapter 18

He had her location and he knew exactly where she lived but getting her apart and away from her family was the hard part. He had been at the Broome Street loft for the past week hiding out in all kinds of weather and he'll be damned but whenever she went out it was always with the bastard and his wife. He wanted to wait until she was alone so no one would know what happened to her. Many times they came out with two double strollers taking a walk down to the park. When she left the loft it was usually with the children or her children. He's not a monster he just wants to kill the man who killed his father so he will not take away the mother of their children when she's with them.

Hoping that she will decide to leave the house for some unforeseen reason he has been waiting for her across the street in an alleyway hidden from view. He has seen the comings and goings of the entire family all week and never once has he had a chance to take her alone. But today he feels lucky.

Xx

Alexis had cabin fever and even her mother knew how important it was to get away from the responsibilities of life once and a while. So when she arrived back from work that night she sent her daughter to the store to pick up some baby supplies.

"Listen, baby, you need to get out and get some fresh air. There will always something for you to do around the loft. So do this for yourself, get out before you drive yourself crazy." Kate said.

Alexis looks at her mother a little apprehensively but then decides that she is right. She's been cooped up in the loft for the past week only getting out to take the children for their daily walk with them usually in the evening.

"Okay, mom. Is there anything else that you need from the store other than diapers, wipes, and formula?"

"No. Just get those things and I think we'll be alright."

Alexis grabs her keys and her purse off the table and rummages through it to get her license and debit card. She shoves the license in her back pocket along with her debit card and wraps the keys with the spiral wrist holder around her wrist. She pulls open the door to the loft and closes it behind her quietly. She heads to the elevator and then on to the lobby. Her father always taught her to be aware of her surroundings And the second she walked out of the lobby her eyes were scanning everything to the left and right of her. She looked up the street and down the street and found nothing out of place. She makes a left turn out of the lobby and heads East towards the Morton Williams supermarket on Bleeker street. The market is a fifteen-minute walk and she checks her phone for the time. She should be there no later than 5:30. As she walks she loves the freedom of being able to do something as menial as going to the store.

Xx

The heavens are smiling down on him. He watches as she comes out of the lobby alone, looks left, then right and proceeds to turn left out of the loft entrance. He has to play this cool because this will probably be his only chance. So he watches as she gets at least half a block away keeping his eye trained on her as not to lose her as she blends in with the city foot traffic. By the time she gets to the corner of Broome and Canal Street he leaves his hide. He walks at a pace that's equivalent to hers keeping an eye on her from far away. He has no idea where she's going but that doesn't matter. All he needs to be is 15 to 20 feet away from him to use what he's going to use to take her away from her father.

His weapon of choice was as old as time itself. He had made this as well. It was crude but would do what he needed it to do. It was a piece of PVC pipe with nothing much else to it other than the dart that went through the ¼ inch opening. He had looked at other models to buy on the internet but they were too long and hard to conceal so he made his own. His was only 18 inches long and was easily hidden in his coat.

His coat. He looked like he was a throwback from the forties'. He was dressed as if he was a private dick from that time. He wore a brown fedora with a cliché grey trench coat.

Walking about 100 feet behind her on the opposite side of the street he watched as she had no care in the world.

Xx

Alexis was on cloud nine. Having the freedom to leave the loft without any children in tow was a new feeling for her. She loved her children and her nieces as well but there were times that she became overwhelmed cooped up at home. This small task to the store reasserted her value to her children and her fathers as well.

She stopped at West Broadway to wait for the all-clear to cross the intersection. She looked around at her surroundings and noticed a man across the street wearing an old fedora and a trench coat. She eyed him closely but when the intersection was clear she continued across the street not giving the man another thought. By the time she arrived at the supermarket she had made it there two minutes later than she had allotted for.

For a second he thought he was caught when she hesitated at the street corner. But she just looked at him and continued on her way. He watched for the ideal time to take her out and decided that he'd do it on the way back. More opportunities were going back to the Broome street loft then there were going to the store. He had the ideal spot to do it in. There was an alcove three blocks back that would keep him hidden and be able to take her with not many witnesses. Once he sees her going into the store he turns and heads back to set the trap.

Xx

Rick has his hands full and found out that suspending half his team with no pay is not what he likes doing. He suspended Kang, Dave, and his best friend Smitty until the commissioner had the time to truly investigate what happened with the incident on the highway. The commissioner would take his time as additional punishment and that will put a pinch on the guy's wallets. He notices that it's way past the time he should have gone home. He checks the time on the clock hanging on the wall in his office and sees that it's a little before 7 pm. He gathered his files to bring home with him and places them in his commuter bag. He is just about to shut down his computer when the phone rings. He sees the called ID and has a smile on his face. His daughter never fails to surprise him with a call to cheer him up. He accepts her call and says,

"Hi, pumpkin. How are you?"

The line is connected but she says nothing. He hears heavy breathing on the other end but can't understand why.

"Alexis? Is everything okay?"

The second he hears the voice his world is turned upside down and his smile disappears in a split second. His body stops and freezes.

"She'll be just fine if you listen to what I have to say."

"Who the hell is this? What have you done with my daughter?"

"Nothing yet! But that could all change with what you do, or don't do I should say."

"I'll pay whatever you want just don't hurt her!"

"Stupid man. This has nothing to do with money. Why is it that you Americans always think that is the case?"

"If it's not then what do you want with her?"

"Retribution!"

The line goes dead and Rick is staring at his phone in his hand. He needs to call Kate but he can't even get his body to cooperate with his brain. Someone took his daughter….

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

When she wakes up the first thing she is dealing with is a pounding headache. The last thing she can remember is walking out of the supermarket with two bags of baby supplies making it about two and a half blocks away from the said supermarket being hit with something sharp on the side of her neck and then hitting the sidewalk hard. Right now she is blindfolded and bound by her wrists and ankles in a chair. At least she thinks it's a chair but it could be a bench for all she knows because from what she can tell there is no ambient noise coming from the room that she is in.

She knows that soon her mother and father will be worried about where she is and why she has not returned home. Maybe that in itself will get them to find her quickly. She's about to try to wiggle out of her restraints at her wrists that are bound together but she hears footsteps outside the door and stops any further attempts at trying to get herself free.

The door opens and she turns her head to the sound.

"Ahh good. You're awake."

"Who are you?"

"All in due time Ms. Sanfilippo. Tell me how does it feel to be a widow? Are the kiddies getting along well without daddy there to comfort them?"

"How the hell do you know that I'm a widow?"

"That's the easy part of the equation, what you should be asking yourself is how he got that way. But you Americans are so hung up on routine it sickens me. You get up at 4:30 in the morning, have your morning cup of coffee at precisely 4:45, then take your shower at 4:55, when that's finished you read the paper from 5:15 until 5:30 drinking the rest of your coffee and then getting ready to go to work. If you had been any kind of unpredictable your husband would still be here with you right now. He was very gullible and predictable but I will give you the fact that he was the one who wanted to advance his career to give you everything that you could ever want."

She couldn't see him but if she could she would probably rip his eyes out. A sickening feeling came over her because she knew that he was the one who had taken Kyle away from her and now she wants her revenge. But she still can't figure out why she is stuck here in this little room tied to a chair.

"What do you want with me?" Alexis demands.

"Well, I might as well let the cat out of the bag. A long time ago..." Collin started as if she were a little child and he was telling her a bedtime story...

"Your father decided to take matters into his own hands and act as judge, jury, and executioner. He single-handedly caused me to become fatherless in the blink of an eye. And now that he has you and a new set of twins the same fate will befall him as well."

"Wait who are you? And my father has killed no one to make you fatherless."

Collin's anger started to rise and he was so close to backhanding her across the face but he calmed himself down and explained to her rationally what happened that dreadful day.

"Eight years ago my father paid the ultimate price. He had wanted to take out his childhood friend for murdering his family and was going to do it through your father's new wife. But somehow he had figured out what my father was going to do in order to take him out. Knowing that he was going to die so he quickly transferred 2 pounds of C4 explosive into the back of his truck. Let me tell you something Ms. Sanfilippo there's not much a son can do to claim his father's body when it's in so many little pieces."

Alexis almost lost control her bladder. She never knew that Colin had a son. She strained against her restraints trying to get away knowing that she was never going to make it out of this alive. He'd probably wired her chair or whatever she was sitting in to blow the second of pressure came off of it. She really needed to warn her father but had no way of doing so with a stupid blindfold on her head and her hands tied behind her back. so the least she could do was get some information.

"What makes you think that my father doesn't know where I am right now?" Alexis asked.

"Oh, that's simple. I waited until you were alone to take you and that was a feat in itself because you're always out with your stepmother and father. Do you do everything together? I swear it's like a perfect family. Something I never had." Colin said with disgust.

Xx

Kate was frantic. Rick had finally come home after being relieved of command at the BDU and she was asking him for whatever he knew about their daughter's disappearance. But it sounded more like an interrogation on her part and he was sick of it. He knew she needed answers but what he needed was to find his daughter and he would gladly take her place if that were the case. He just doesn't know where to start. The video coverage they have of her shows her going into the store and leaving the store and then the rest of the cameras North of the store were inoperative from about a block away on. Their only break was an ATM camera that caught something that looks like a person being helped along a sidewalk but they couldn't be sure it was her. It could have been someone holding up a drunk coming out of the bar and not far from the store.

"Rick, what do we know?" Kate asks.

"Hey Kate, listen I'm stuck here. I don't know which direction to turn in because all we have is her going into the store and coming out of the store and that's it. There is a video from an ATM that has somebody that looks like her being helped along into the back of a black SUV. Facial recognition can't get a hit on either her or the person helping her if that is her by the way." Rick finishes.

"We need to find her." She pleads desperately.

"I know we do Kate and we will. We just need to backtrack her steps to when she left the store…"

"No Rick you don't understand. This is all my fault. I'm the one who sent her out to get the diapers, the formula, and the baby wipes. It's all my fault." Kate says as her eyes start to glisten with tears.

"Kate listen I know that you send her to get what we needed but trust me this is not your fault so please don't beat yourself up over this we will find her. There's a logical explanation for why she was taken and I think that we will get her back in one piece. What I think is that she was taken to lure me to somewhere or even someplace. Where I don't know. But we've been doing this long enough to realize that the outcome is usually positive on our end. So let's put our heads together and think of all the cases that we had in the past for who would be the most likely to come after us for revenge because that's all I think this is, is straight-up revenge."

After reviewing most of the case files they had at home and since they couldn't get into the NYPD's computers because Rick was currently suspended they only came up with one name. But Kate had to make a phone call before she agreed with her husband. He was adamant about who he thought it was and because of that, she was on the fence. But after this phone call, it would all become crystal clear.

And that's another thing that Kate was unsure about. Why was her husband suspended from his job? So when they had found a possible suspect they were looking for, and Kate had made her call Lanie for some information, she decided to drill him about why he wasn't able to work anymore.

"So Rick I have a couple of questions for you. I need to know why you are home at 1:15 on Thursday when you should be at work. Why were you suspended?" Kate led with that because she knew that he was suspended. She had her little birdies everywhere.

"Well, my dear loving bride of seven years, I have been suspended because I am the commander of the BDU. And since Smitty and Dave got into the argument with Kang on the highway, the commissioner thought it would be prudent if I was suspended along with them. Now I don't know if this is to show me that he can flex his muscle and suspend me whenever he wanted to or maybe because it was the right thing to do. Even though I had no control over the situation of what was happening on the highway, the commissioner wants to know why I did not reprimand them when they arrived back at BDU. You could say that he is making a point."

"So what is he asking of you?"

"Kate let's face it I've been on the job for over 35 years. I run one of the most efficient and successful bomb disposal units in any city. Now, this is the first time I've ever been suspended from my job ever. And the commissioner knows it. So maybe he's sending me a message without actually telling me outright. But quite honestly now I think it's time that I hung up my handcuffs. I'm eligible for 75% of my retirement due to the fact that I have been blown up too many times for me to count. So maybe that's an option to get out before the fire burns me."

She had forgotten that he was a beat cop before he came to BDU. And she'd also forgot that he had put in 15 good years on the beat before he did his 20 at BDU well 19 and a half. So he more than earned his retirement but in a way she didn't want him to leave because it was all he had. Maybe she could make him see that it was just a simple set back and he could overcome what happened with the commissioner. But now they had bigger things to worry about and that was to get their daughter back.

Xx

"So what's your big plan? Why do you need me? Why don't you just take out my father? Are you not man enough?" Alexis hoped she was pushing all his wrong buttons just to get him to screw up. Now that he knew that she knew what he was going to try to attempt to do she was going to try anything to circumvent what he had planned. And if she lost her life in the process she knew that her children would be taken care of by her mother and father. So the trade-off was reasonable. But she had a sinking feeling about this guy. He wouldn't kill her, she just knew it. But at the same time, she needed some way to warn her father about what was coming his way. Being blindfolded really does suck because you can't see anything and she doesn't think that he will let her see anything either. So, for now, she's still his prisoner until something better comes along.


	20. Chapter 20

He made sure that his captive was secure and after he did that he had a call to make. It's been almost 24 hours since he has taken her and they must be going crazy because they can't find her. Good, he thinks to himself, he deserves it.

He dials the number that he has for the bastard's house and when it connects he automatically can tell that they're recording whatever he's going to be saying. So he needs to keep this brief.

"Castle," Rick answered after getting the go ahead from the wiretap tech.

"Castle if you want to see your daughter alive you will be at Penn Station at 3 pm tomorrow afternoon in the central concourse. There will be additional instructions."

"I want proof that she is still alive!"

"I'm going to offer you no such proof. Just be where I tell you to be when I tell you to be and maybe I'll keep her alive until then. So until tomorrow…"

Rick is holding the dead landline in his hand.

The call rattled him but it would have rattled anyone and he can't let it show. He needs to be the strong one who is in charge here and he will do what is needed to get his daughter back. As he turns to face his wife he puts on a confident look so she sees that he is not phased by the call he just received.

"Rick what does he want?" Kate asked.

"He wants me. He wants me to show up at Penn Station by 3 pm tomorrow."

"You're not going right?"

"Kate, he has Alexis, of course, I'm going."

She just looked at him like he was insane. She would not lose both of them to this lunatic. He needed to know that she meant he would be doing this from a distance but somehow she knew that he would fight her on this.

"Rick you are not going to Penn Station and that is not negotiable. I need you here with me. We'll figure out another plan to get Alexis back."

Just as Rick was about to counter her demand her phone rang and she stopped by placing her hand up in the air abruptly silencing him.

"Beckett." She answered turning to her Captain persona.

"Captain Beckett, we got the trace. The call originated from somewhere in Brooklyn near Metropolitan Ave. within a two-block radius of Bedford Street." Ryan stated into the phone.

"Ryan see if you and Esposito can narrow it down. I'm in the middle of something right this second and when I'm finished I'll head over to the 12th."

"You got it, Cap. See you later."

Kate hangs up and turns to where her husband should be but the space he was occupying not less than 30 seconds ago is now empty.

"Rick?"

Xx

He knew that the second that she was off the phone she'd be trying to convince him that going after their daughter was a bad idea. So he made his escape from the living room and went back to the safe in their bedroom to pick up his Sig Sauer P226. He also took his back up .40 caliber along with him just in case. Now all he had to do was to get out of the loft in one piece. He doubted that this would happen only because when he turned to exit the bedroom she was standing there with her hands on her hips posing like Superman with a mean look on her face and he just knew he was in deep shit now.

"Where do you think you're going, Rick?"

"Kate even though I'm suspended I'm still going to go after this bastard! I'm going to catch his ass and string him up by his balls from the tallest flagpole I can find. That is after I shoot him full of holes. Alexis's life and your life mean too much to me to give up. I, on the other hand, am expendable. I have trained for a scenario like this and I will come out on top."

"Will you stop and listen to yourself? Stop acting like a martyr. We will go after this guy together or not at all. And don't forget I outrank you."

"Bullshit! You don't outrank me. I'm a Captain and have been one longer than you have."

"While that might be true oh husband of mine you forget that you are currently suspended so you have no official title nor capacity to carry out your little vendetta here. I outrank you and don't you forget it. So if you don't want to be placed under house arrest I'd rethink your next move."

He couldn't argue with that and she was right. While he was suspended he had no official capacity or rank.

"Okay so how do you want to handle this?" He finally gave in.

"You're going to meet this guy tomorrow afternoon at 3. But I won't let you go in there unprotected so you're going to be wearing the most up-to-date and best Kevlar that we have. The only thing that you won't have covered is your head. Let's just hope that he doesn't shoot you there."

Xx

Colin went back to check on his hostage after the phone call. Sitting down at the desk and powering up his laptop he pulls up the feed for the camera that is trained on her. She still fights her restraints trying to get free. She's determined he'll give her that. He thinks about the task he needs to complete and he knows that she won't like what's in store for her next. The bomb vest is complete and he fashioned it after the one that she and the bastard's wife wore so long ago. But there is one catch here, there is no way for anyone but himself to remove the device without it being blown to kingdom come.

His father gave the bastard a choice back then but this time around no choices will be given. Both of them will die tomorrow.

He goes over the vest one last time to make sure that there will be no mistakes and checks the placement of C-4 and finds that everything is set. Then he concentrates on his ballistic prowess. He has made an exploding round to use against Castle. In his planning he had made two and now is going to reload two of the .50 BMG rounds. He cleans the casings, trims what will be useless from casing where the round itself will sit, reloads two CCI #35 primers and then adds the powder. Instead of using the recommended 218 grain charge of powder, he opts for something with a little more kick. 220 grain is what he uses because he knows that his rifle can handle it and the casing will be okay as well. He presses the exploding round into each casing and marvels at the simplicity of what he has created.

He runs a diagnostic test on the exploding part of the round and once again everything is fine. He designed the round to become armed once it left the end of his barrel. Whatever it would hit would be obliterated within about 25 feet. With the rounds complete and his vest ready he turns in for some much needed sleep.

Xx

Alexis knew that he made a call to her father. She heard him talking but he was too far away for her to make anything out. She knew that the next few hours were going to be hard on her so she needed to be strong for her family. She fell asleep sitting in the chair thinking about her two sons.

Xx

He greedily rubs his hands together knowing that today is the day that he will get his payback. First, he needs to knock out his hostage again. He opens the door and sees that she is still asleep. He will incapacitate her as he did when he initially took her. Only now he has a syringe to do the job instead of a blow dart. He quickly finds a good vein to administer the drug. Just as he depresses the plunger on the syringe she wakes up.

"Wait, what are you doing to me?" She says as she struggles to break free.

"It's just a little dose of what got you here. Now you just relax and when you wake up this will all be over." He sees her stop fighting against the restraints and by the time he is finished talking her eyelids are fluttering shut again.

He cuts the plastic ties that bound her and lifts her out of the chair to place her on the bed. He positions her arms in the bomb vest and zips up the front zipper. He locks the zipper in place with a small lock. He snugs up the laces that tie the vest together and then he gets her to the rental car parked outside of his room. He strapped her in with the seat belt and he walks around to the driver's side to head off to Penn Station.

His backpack is the first item he picks up before he gets his hostage out of the car. He does this for good reason because inside of it are his exploding rounds that are safely tucked away. He gets her out of the car making it look like she is not feeling well and pulls her close to him as he drags her inside Penn Station. He props her up on the long wooden bench that sits opposite from the phone booths. Once he is good with her placement he activates the vest then heads to the ticket counter to pretend to buy tickets. Standing in line he waits for about two minutes before he leaves the line and heads over to the men's room. He pulls out the stolen workers uniform and once he is changed into it he returns back to the concourse. He eyes his hostage sitting on the bench and she has not moved one inch.

He scans the top of the scaffolding before he climbs up it and sees nothing out of place. His plan will be coming to its end and soon.

By the time he gets to the top of the scaffolding, he sees his rifle still where he left it under the tarp. He sees that nothing else had been disturbed and he takes the two exploding rounds from his shirt pocket. Lying in the prone position he checks his watch. It's 2:47 pm. He starts to regulate his breathing to get ready for the shot. He loads the first round into the breach and locks the bolt in place. Having sighted in his weapon earlier he goes through the entire process once again. Nothing will take away from his moment.

He sees his target arrive and the second he sees his daughter sitting on the bench he runs to her. It's now 2:58. He makes his final adjustments and when the bastard stands up from the position he's in it will all be over and his father will be vindicated.

The bastard stands starts to turn away when his name is called and then his finger pulls the trigger….

**Epilogue to follow.**

**To all who celebrate it, Happy Easter!**


	21. Epilogue

He ejects the shell casing that is in his rifle and chambers a new round. His eye automatically goes to the scope's eyepiece to scan the carnage he has just caused…

_**Eight hours previously…**_

"_Beckett, we got the trace. The call originated from somewhere in Brooklyn near Metropolitan Ave. within a two-block radius of Bedford Street." Ryan stated into the phone._

_"Ryan see if you and Esposito can narrow it down. I'm in the middle of something right this second and when I'm finished I'll head over to the 12th."_

_"You got it, Cap. See you later."_

After Kate had dealt with her husband and told him to stay put or else she would swear out an arrest warrant on him, she got her shield, gun, and keys, she made her way to the 12th. By the time she got there, her boys were already running down the location of the call trying to pinpoint the exact location.

"Ryan, Espo what do you have?" Kate asked, becoming all business as she walked to her office.

"We only have it narrowed down to a 2 block grid. There are too many variables and he was not on the phone for long enough to pinpoint exactly where he was." Ryan fills in.

"Captain Beckett, I have a theory about what this guy might be up to. I recently had a friend from the Marine Corps call me and tell me that he had trained a foreign national in Ireland to fire a .50 caliber BMG sniper rifle about a year ago. Now being able to take a life is one thing, but being able to take one and keep your cool is totally something different. What I want to do now is go over the blueprints for Penn Station because I had the Department of Buildings send over the floor plans to the 12th. They arrived by messenger 10 minutes ago. I know right now they are renovating the West entrance and that is probably where this guy is hiding." Esposito said.

"Javi, are you sure he'll try to shoot Rick? And for that matter what about Alexis? I can't lose either of them. So you better be long and straight on what you think you want to do. God help you if you read this wrong." Kate vowed.

"Kate I've been to Penn Station recently and I know that they are repairing the ceiling and parts of the windows on the West End. It's the spot that makes the most sense for an ambush from this guy. He thinks he's untouchable but he's not thinking about elevation. The only thing he didn't think about was someone shooting from a higher position than he's already in. And that's a sniper's best friend, being invisible."

"Impress me Espo, I trust your skills."

Kate thinks that he is the right person for the job and she does trust him. Javi pulls out the blueprints and lays them out onto the conference room table. He uses notebooks to keep the blueprints from rolling up. He gets to work on his plan.

"Kate here's what's going to happen. This guy is going to be thinking that he is alone in his perch right now"

Esposito looks at his watch and then continues.

"I can guarantee you that he is not in position yet. He will probably wait until the last minute to take his shot using Alexis as bait. He'll probably wait until the hour that he wants Rick to be there by. If I know this guy and I'm pretty sure that I do, he's using a .50 caliber BMG and I am going to use my trusted M40A5. It's more than enough to do the job and I know exactly where he's going to be so once I have the height advantage over him it'll be all over."

"Javi this plan of yours could work. But I need a back-up plan in place if it doesn't. This guy has never used guns to kill anybody; he was always the guy with the bomb. Look what he did or should say tried to do with Smitty's car. And then he killed my son in law, and the incident at the Guggenheim which I'm sure was all him. So I don't know what to think now. I'm not stopping you from laying out the groundwork for your plan, but I need you to keep me informed and up-to-date."

"In the meantime,"

Kate turns and looks at Ryan

"Kevin, me and you are going to come up with a secondary plan just to make sure that if Javi's plan fails we will be there to pick up the pieces."

Kate and Kevin turn to leave the conference room as Javi starts to look over the blueprints with more attentiveness. As Kevin walks behind his boss he can only wonder what's going through her head right now. He knows that she's up against the wall and has no idea what's going to happen next. He would not want to be in her shoes because 3 p.m. will be here quicker than she wants it to be.

Xx

He knows the phone call was too short for them to get an exact location for his apartment. But either way, he won't be here if they do figure out where he's at. He'll be in the rental car heading over to Penn Station by noon at the latest. Knowing that it's a weekday and midafternoon the number of people at the station should be no problem. What he faces is dropping her off in her unconscious state. He will probably raise some people's suspicions, but he can play it off easily and say that she is under the weather so to speak. All he has to do now is inject her with 20 cc's of the same drug used in the blow dart and that will keep her out for four hours at least.

By the time he gets to Penn Station he parks the car and moves over to the passenger side to take out his hostage. He throws her arm over his shoulder and he slips his left arm beneath her rib cage and starts dragging her into the station. Luckily from the sidewalk to the main doors, no one questions why he's dragging her in instead of her walking. By the time they get into the station, the light has dimmed greatly and he sees the ticket booth in the center of the concourse. No one will question the way he walks with her now. Opposite the booth are the benches and that's where he'll put her. He will have the perfect shot.

As he sits his hostage down on the bench he looks over to the ticket booth and has another brilliant idea. He'll act as if he's talking to her and then make like he's going to buy tickets from the ticket booth. Stand in line for about two to three minutes and then leave that line to head over to the scaffolding which he can see from where he stands. Before he leaves her he pulls the hoodie over her red hair and tilts her head towards the nook of the bench. He gets in line for the tickets and within two and a half minutes he walks away and makes his way to the scaffolding. He checks his windage flags even though there is no wind in this station but it never hurts to be prepared. He dons his workers uniform that he stole from the guy he killed yesterday and exits the men's bathroom after he's changed into it. He almost forgets to hang his company ID card from his pocket just in case anyone questions him so he pulls it out of his backpack and hangs it from his left pocket. He goes through the illusion that he's checking the scaffolding for compliance with city laws and regulations and when he's done with that he starts climbing up the side of the scaffold. By the time he gets to the top, it's just about 2 pm.

Xx

Esposito always traveled with his weapon. It was in a strong box that was secured by a biometric handprint in the trunk of his car. Once he had figured out where the higher ground was in Penn Station he went down to the car to retrieve his weapon. He would need to access Penn Station from the roof and drop down past the iconic windows to hide that he knew his adversary knew nothing about. He studied the blueprints for a couple of hours and by the time he had finished he had a solid plan in place. He would be independent of his boss and her plan. It was better that way because if one knew what the other was doing then no one would continue with their said plan. And he needed to take this guy out before he did any damage. As he rechecks his weapon he thinks back to another time. Being a Marine Corps sniper teaches you to accept certain situations. Esposito knew that being stuck up in his hide for four and a half hours was nothing new. In the Gulf War, he and his spotter were hidden for days before he decided to move on to a different target. He was like any other Marine Corps sniper who was good. The Taliban had put a price on his head just as they had with his brothers in the Seals and Army snipers. His kill count was well over a hundred fifty and they never caught him to collect the bounty.

He notices motion climbing up the West side of the scaffolding. He quickly brings up his rifle to look through the scope. What sees is a curly red-headed man climbing the scaffolding determined to make it to the top without being seen. Due to the size of the hide that he has selected opposite the scaffolding, he is in the sitting position with his elbow resting on his left knee. This position keeps him the smallest target as possible and still, he can fire accurately at the scaffolding 75 yards away. He watches as the sniper across on the scaffolding lays down in a prone position and starts to regulate his breathing to get ready for the shot that he'll never be able to take.

Xx

From the position he's in Collin drops in one of his exploding rounds into the breach of the rifle. He locks the bolt in place and the rifle is ready to fire. He very slowly checks his watch one last time and notices that it's 2:58. He gets busy looking through the scope and he finally spots his target running frantically to his daughter. He makes two more adjustments for trajectory and elevation and he takes a deep breath. His finger is on the trigger all he needs now to do now is exhale and pull the trigger and get his revenge.

Xx

Esposito can see when his target takes his last calming breath before he pulls the trigger. He watches as his finger tightens around the trigger and now he knows he must prevent this from happening. He watches as his back deflates and his shot leaves the barrel of his gun connecting with the left temple of his target in less than .117 seconds later. He ejects the spent .308 cartridge and he chambers a new round. He looks through his scope to scan the carnage he had just caused and he can tell that his target will no longer be getting up.

Xx

Kate was running behind Rick as they made it into Penn Station and up to Alexis sitting on the bench. It's then when they hear the shot and both of them, crouch down to make themselves a smaller target just in case. By the time the echo from the gunshot has subsided, Kate hears through her earpiece Esposito telling her that it's all clear. They both look down at Alexis and notice that she is unconscious but she has a little surprise for them under the hoodie that she's wearing. They know it's not her hoodie so it's probably been put on by the guy who left her there. Rick's training kicks in and he can tell that she's wearing something under it that is definitely not friendly. He tells Kate to back up at least 10 feet while he assesses the situation. Kate does back up but not the entire 10 feet because that's her daughter there and she wants to be here if something goes wrong. Not knowing if the hoodie is a trigger or not he doesn't wait. He knows it's stupid but he wants to see what he's dealing with and as he slides the zipper down tooth by tooth it exposes more of what's underneath the hoodie. And Rick is livid. He's turned his daughter into a walking bomb. The second he turns to face his wife she knows the look in his eye and she can tell he will do anything even if that includes trading his life for hers to get her out of this in one piece.

"Kate, I need you to get on the phone to Loto and Smitty. I need the kit brought here ASAP and I also need the kevlar containment walls from the BDU truck. If she goes I go with her."

Kate knows that his determination is true. She also knows that she will be a widow if this doesn't come out the way she hopes it will. Knowing that cellular telephone frequencies can set off certain explosives Kate walks out onto 7th Avenue far from her husband to make her phone call.

"Hello, this is Paul." Smitty answers.

"Smitty it's me, Kate. I know you're suspended but I need you to gather up yourself, Loto Kang and Herman Baez. You need to bring the kevlar blast shield and the bomb kit. Come to the West entrance of Penn Station and I'll be waiting there for you."

"Kate, what's going on? You know that doing anything work-related while we're suspended could get us fried don't you know that."

"Smitty listen to me Alexis has a bomb strapped to her and she's unconscious right now. I just can't imagine what she's going to be like when she becomes conscious. So I need you to get your ass down here with your gear and help my husband because he's the one who's got his life on the line right now. I don't want to lose him."

Smitty who had never heard Kate speak to him like this knew that the situation was dire.

"Kate go back and be with Rick. I will be calling Kang and Baez myself. We will be there as quickly as humanly possible." Smitty hangs up, leaving Kate holding her phone.

When Kate comes back inside she sees that the MTA police have cordoned off a majority of the Grand Concourse. No one is allowed past a certain point and there are no citizens allowed past the west side of the terminal. When she walks up to Rick she sees him studying the vest and what she sees on his face is a look of frustration. Whoever did this is doing a good job pissing her husband off.

Xx

He'll be a son of a bitch, but he never thought he would see this signature ever again. The vest is classic Colin senior. It's only now that he realizes that his son must have found something that connected him to his father's death years before. The vest that he constructed is exactly the same vest that killed his wife and was worn by his daughter. But there's a twist in this vest that he didn't see coming. As with any profession, a bomb maker's technique is unique. There are safety's put in place that will not allow you to remove the vest without doing damage to either the wearer or the person trying to defuse the bomb. He can tell the explosive of choice is C4 and is wired to a passive trigger. And since he had heard the gunshot earlier and the okay from Esposito that their mad bomber was now dead, he's up shit's creek without a paddle. He examines the vest and he can tell that each velcro strap is wired separately as well as each block of C-4 in the pockets.

Xx

Smitty, Kang, and Baez were already en route and Herman was in the BDU truck following behind them praying to the gods above. Smitty was driving like a nut and he already hit a taxi and an NYPD cruiser with his classic Grand Prix and who is currently chased by that cop. They pull up onto the sidewalk across from the Garden and park. The cop who they hit earlier jumps out of his car with his gun drawn not knowing what to expect. Smitty, Kang, and Baez have made it to the bottom steps of Penn station.

"NYPD stop and put your hands up" The cop yells out.

Kang and Baez do as instructed but Smitty disregards his order and runs towards the MSG entrance of Penn Station knowing that Rick is going to need what he has in his hands to diffuse whatever situation he is dealing with.

Xx

Esposito watched as the patrol cop skidded to a stop sliding along the access road between Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. Then he saw the cop pull out his gun and two of the three men stopped running. Before this, he had been up to the scaffold planks where he checked on his now-dead sniper. He was officially deceased. As he climbed down the scaffolding he noticed activity coming up 34th Street towards the entrance to the Garden. From his position on the scaffold, he could see a cop car from Manhattan North Task Force speeding up behind an old Pontiac Grand Prix. He was quick to get down the section of scaffolding that led to the Main Concourse of the station and in doing so he almost fell backward onto the floor. He ran for the door that led from the Garden to Penn Station and just as he did that Smitty body-slammed him and they both fell backward. When he got back to his feet Esposito knew the cop in the car and put his hands up to stop him from doing anything defensively. Walking over to the patrol car he told them about the situation inside and the cop let Baez and Kang go join Smitty with the kevlar blast screens.

Xx

Kate looked on as her husband was trying to determine the best way to remove the 4 pounds of plastic explosives that are strapped to their daughter. She was always proud of what he had done in the department and he always put everybody else's needs first before he worried about himself. He watched as he poked and prodded every part of the vest until he let out a hard sigh. The second she wondered why she looked at her daughter and got her answer.

" Daddy? What's going on?"

"Alexis, you were probably drugged before you were brought here but what you don't know is that you have about 4 pounds of C-4 explosives attached to your body in a vest."

"No! Dad, you need to do something."

"Alexis as you can see I'm working on it. I won't let anything happen to you. I need to look at the backside of your vest. What I'm going to do is finish unzipping the hoodie the rest of the way and take it off you. When Smitty gets here I am going to use the kit to see if I can remove this vest from your body."

All Alexis does is give a nod to her father. As Kate looks on she sees Alexis bravely trying to stay calm. By the time they both gain their composure, Smitty is running to the bench where Rick is kneeling down at.

"Rick don't move," Smitty tells him as he slides to a stop right next to the both of them.

"Smitty listen we've got to get this damn thing off her for her before it blows her and us all to hell. I need the cutting pliers and I need the multimeter to test out the circuits for the vest. What I'm thinking is that we can snip the elastic cord that runs up and down each side of her rib cage and simply slide it off of her body."

"Don't. This guy has safeties built into this vest. If I think you're going to do what I think you are going to do...stop."

"Smitty all I'm going to do is test the vest for a vulnerable point."

"Rick there won't be one. I'm not sure what we can do."

"DON'T TELL ME THAT! Because if we believe that then my daughter is dead." Rick yelled and Smitty came right back with his answer.

"Don't be stupid! Rick, there are some situations that you can't win. This could be one of them." Smitty looked into Alexis' eyes and regretted what he said instantly.

"Smitty, go back and see if there is a way to get around these fail-safes. I need to get this off of her before no one comes away alive."

Smitty walked back towards Kate knowing that Rick had sent him on something he can't solve. In the meantime they both watch him go over the vest one more time.

"I figured staying with you might be better than getting my head bitten off by him. But Kate listen there's going to be nothing we can do to take this vest off Alexis. I'm not sure if you remember the news article but Rick was given a choice by Collins' father years ago. He had two vests wired differently. Alexis's vest was wired where he could remove it without her dying. But his wife's was wired to explode the second Alexis's vest was removed. I studied the footage from that day and that's what Collins' father wanted. He wanted him to suffer. And now it's come full circle where his son is doing all the dirty work."

"Smitty there is no way that the vest can be removed? I mean there has to be a way to neutralize the C-4 isn't there?"

Then it hit him. If they could stop the signal from getting to the C-4 then maybe they have a shot.

Smitty knows that time is critical. What he proposes on doing is going to Rick and telling him that a frequency jammer to jam the detonator's signal so they will not go off while the vest is on Alexis. It will be tricky but if the jammer does what he thinks it should, Rick will be able to snip the elastic cords connecting the front of the vest to the back of the vest together. Then it can be carefully lifted off her body. He rushes back out to the BDU truck parked near the 34th street entrance and searches the compartments for the jammer. He finally finds it in the glovebox of all places after checking over the entire truck.

Xx

"Alexis there will be some discomfort for a second or two while I shift this vest around your body. I'm looking for any sensors that might be on the inside of the vest making contact with your body."

"Okay, daddy." She replied.

Rick was almost ready to cry. His daughter never called him daddy only when she was younger so he can't fail her. He looks into her eyes and gives her a wink then gets to work.

The second Smitty returns with the jammer he sees Rick probing the vest Alexis is wearing. Herman has already set up the kevlar blast walls and was standing off to the side near Kate.

"Cap I think you need to see this," Esposito said as he and the patrolman from MNTF walked up to her.

"Espo what is that?" She asks as she sees him holding up something between his forefinger and thumb. A something that has a red blinking light on it which can't be good.

"I pulled this from the shooter who was on top of the scaffold. It's a digital remote of some sort."

"We need to get this to Rick right away. Smitty come with me." Kate says as she dragged Smitty by the arm behind the blast shields set up around Alexis.

"Babe listen I have what I think is the disarming device for Alexis's vest in my hand. But it's blinking. Faster than it was a second ago."

Rick had a plan to get Alexis free of this vest. What he was going to do was use the frequency jammer to stop the signal from getting to the C4 and snip the now steel windings up and down the vest to get her free of it. They weren't elastic cords like he thought they were; they were sensors connected directly to her skin.

When he looked up at Kate and Smitty standing there he moved over to them and took a look at the device.

"Smitty, you do realize that this device needs a six-digit code to be deactivated right?"

"Rick I think I have that covered. There's only one date that would fit in there that would work but it's your call if you want to put it in."

"All right I'd like to hear your thoughts on why you think you know the number and I don't."

"That's simple. It's the day that Colin's father died." Herman interrupted.

Rick was skeptical, to say the least. Could it be that easy? His friend and Collin's father died on 09/10/11.

"Rick there is one way that we can make this work if the date is wrong. But I agree with Baez and that's the day his father died. That's the code." Smitty said.

"Alright, what's your plan, Paul?" Rick asked.

"We go with your first plan. After we enter the date and if the date doesn't work and the remote ends up tripping the vest, we will have the jammer in place to stop the signal from going through and you cut the sensors apart from the vest and pull it up over her head and throw it into the bomb containment unit."

"Do you think we'll have enough time to get it off her and into the containment unit without going off?

"I do because we've been in tougher spots than this. My main goal is keeping Alexis alive. We have been in the game too long and I think it's time we both get out."

"You are not going to sacrifice yourself for me. If you go I go."

Smitty just looked at his friend and boss and knew that he would do anything to protect him.

"So here's the new plan. Kate enters the numbers into the remote and will be here waiting for something to happen. I'll have the jammer jamming the frequencies so if the remote doesn't work you will be able to cut the vest off her in less than 10 seconds. To my knowledge, I'm sure that the jammer will keep everything from detonating as long as it's within a five feet radius of the vest. I'll follow you over to the disposal unit and we will cover the vest. Any questions?"

"No Smitty I think you covered just about everything."

"Kate, we need you to get back behind the kevlar blast shields and enter the day that Colin's father died. It's 091011. When you do that yell out 10-4 and we'll know what to do next.

Before Kate leaves she walks over to her husband kisses him softly on the cheek then she walks to her daughter and gives her a hug and a kiss as well. The tears are starting as she walks away but she won't let them see her crying. She gets behind the blast shields and gets ready to put the numbers in.

"I'm ready." She yells out.

"Okay do it now," Rick yells back.

Smitty is standing there holding the jammer two feet from Rick and by all accounts that should work. Kate is shouting that the numbers were imported into the device and she hits enter.

At first, nothing happens but then his daughter starts twitching as if something is wrong.

"Alexis what's wrong?" her father asks.

"Dad something's burning me near my rib cage." She said.

It's then when Rick notices that smoke is coming out from the side of the vest. He quickly picks up the cutting pliers and starts cutting the sensors from the side of the vest along with the steel mesh that's holding it together. Smitty was right. In less than 8 seconds the vest was off of her body and Smitty was following him with the jammer to the containment unit to put the vest in it before it blew up.

Herman who had been at the front of the containment unit, wheels it outside towards the exit. Smitty's following him the entire way just in case. By the time they get outside with the vest inside the containment unit they put it on the trailer and Smitty hangs the frequency jammer on the lid that secures the vest in the unit. In less than an hour, it'll be buried under 20 feet of dirt and then detonated.

Kate rushes past the kevlar blast shields and kneels in front of her daughter still sitting on the bench. The tears haven't stopped since the vest came over off of her. Rick looks down on his wife and daughter and realizes they could have both been taken from him in a millisecond. And then at that moment, he makes up his mind.

Xx

"We have gathered here for three separate functions today. The first deals with a chain of command change over. The second function is to celebrate the retirement of two distinguished and very dedicated men of the BDU." Commissioner Graff announces from the podium set up at BDU headquarters.

"First I need Captain Castle and Lieutenant Kang to report front and center."

Rick, who's in his dress blues his chest laden with medals, was one of the most decorated BDU Captains in the NYPD's walks up and salutes the commissioner and does an about face.

Lieutenant Kang approaches the commissioner and duplicates what Rick had just done.

"Captain Castle has led a group of men to perform like no other in the NYPD. There's a camaraderie between these men that I have never seen in any other unit within the NYPD. They watch each other's backs and have lived through most things that we have never even heard about. They put their lives on the line every day without thought as if they might not be returning at the end of their shift. Recently I had the unfortunate duty of suspending 4 of the 7 members of this unit. When I had suspended these men all the facts were not revealed before me suspending them. It seems that while there was an event that led to the detonation of a suspicious package the BDU members were not fighting over who is to blame as we witnessed in social media postings. What they were fighting over was who to remove from the scene first who was badly injured first. Sometimes social media can blow up a situation that is nothing as it seems. After reviewing different footage from another angle I realized that the men in question were not arguing over who was wrong but who was to be transported to the hospital first. Luckily the people who were involved in the incident are on the mend and recovering as we speak. And that leads me to where we are now. Captain Castle started his career at the 1st Precinct in Manhattan. When he felt that he could do more in a Precinct that had a higher crime rate he transferred to the 42nd Precinct in the Bronx. It wasn't until after I had set him up as a sergeant in the BDU when he excelled. He has done an exceptional job with practically no resources available to him. During his time with the NYPD, he has shown that he can do a lot with a little. And that will now fall to Lieutenant Kang's shoulders. As of today, my friend, Richard Castle will be retiring after 36 years of service from the NYPD. Lieutenant Kang will take over the BDU."

Everyone starts to applaud but the commissioner raises his hands for them to quiet down.

The next bit of business will be the retirement of Lieutenant Paul "Smitty" Williams. Smitty has been a cop for the last 28 years. His career started in Brooklyn with the 62nd Precinct. From there he excelled in arrests and keeping the neighborhood safe. He also worked with children in the community outreach program and the Police Athletic League. He was one of the First Responders on 9/11 and even before that in 1993 he helped rescue people at 1 WTC. When the BDU was in its infancy putting these two men together was a stroke of genius. It will be hard to replace a man like this man."

"Gentleman about face."

The commissioner hands each of the men a folded American flag and a plaque dedicating their time in service with their dates of service and shields bolted to the wood.

"Hand Salute."

Ten seconds pass and then…

"Ready… two."

"This concludes our change of command ceremony and retirement ceremonies for these officers. Please feel free to help yourself to some refreshments. Gentleman it's been an honor to have you among the NYPD."

Kate comes up to the stage and hugs her husband. She is so proud of him and what he's accomplished during his career. When he lets her go she walks over to Smitty and does the same thing. She knows that he'll be over to the loft more times than ever now that he's retired. And they'll accept him with open arms. She thinks about her own retirement but being 12 years younger than Rick she still needs to wait about 4 more years before she can even think about putting in her papers.

Xx

Lieutenant Kang walks up to Rick and salutes him then shakes his hand.

"Rick I won't let you down. I know I have big shoes to fill but I'll try to live up to your standards."

"Loto just do what feels right. That's all that this is about. Once you get that, the rest comes easy."

**~FIN~**

And this is the last chapter of the last story in this trilogy. Of all the stories I've written here for fanfiction, this was probably the one that was the easiest to write because so many people liked it. I had so much fun writing this and it never felt like this was a chore to get out the next chapter. I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. Until next time…

P2P


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